Lost In Time
by m. diddy
Summary: Erica Costello gets her hands on a wonky timeturner and is sent back in time to the 1970s. She is forced to hide from Voldemort at Hogwarts with MWPP. Full summary inside. SBOC and eventual JPLE. AU after Harry's 6th year. Rated T for language.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Harry Potter and his universe belong to J.K. Rowling. I own nothing.

Full Summary: Erica Costello's life has been absolutely crazy ever since they closed Hogwarts down. But it gets even worse when she gets her hands on a wonky timeturner and she is sent to the 1970s with no way of getting back to her own time. Now she is forced to hide at Hogwarts with annoying girls, crazy pranksters and a certain boy named Sirius Black that seems to have it out for her. SBOC and eventual JPLE. This story is AU after the sixth book.

A/N: I had posted this story a while ago under a different name for a contest. But now it's over and I've decided to post this to my regular account. I hope you guys like it. Please read and review!

**Chapter One**

_September 30, 1997_:

"I'll see you tomorrow, yeah?" Erica Costello whispered to her friends as she walked up the path to her house. She was trying to be as quiet as possible as she snuck into her house since it was an hour past her curfew. Normally, she would have been in loads of trouble but she wasn't exactly sure how her dad would react to this. He had been so despondent since her mother had died in a recent attack on Diagon Alley almost three months ago. He had thrown himself into his work, often going into the Ministry extremely early and not coming home until late. And the little time he was home, he spent it working in his study or locked in his bedroom. Erica's life had definitely been turned upside down since July. Her mother had been killed for simply being in the wrong place at the wrong time and her school, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, had been shut down after Albus Dumbledore's death. Now instead of starting her sixth year at school, she was at home being tutored by some stranger.

"It's about time," her father, Frank, said as she walked in the door. "You better have a good excuse."

Erica grinned sheepishly and said, "I lost track of time?"

Frank shook his head. "Definitely not good enough. You can do a lot better than that."

"Sorry, I'll try really hard to lie next time," Erica said, rolling her eyes as she walked into the kitchen.

"Well, you'll have plenty of time to think of a real good one over the next week because you're grounded," he said.

"Grounded?" Erica said. "But Dad, that's so not fair!"

"Of course it's fair, you're home an hour past curfew!" Frank said, his temper rising.

"But Jake and Ryan didn't get home until one in the morning last night and you didn't even punish them!" Erica said, indignant. "Oh wait, that's right. You didn't even notice that because you didn't get home from work until two o'clock this morning." Jake and Ryan were her fifteen year old twin brothers. Erica also had two older brothers Sam, who was twenty-three and a reserve beater on the Falmouth Falcons, and Dean, who was twenty and a curse breaker for Gringotts in Egypt.

"Don't argue with me!" Frank said angrily. "I am your father!"

"Oh, so now you're my father again?" Erica muttered angrily as she got a drink out of the fridge. It really frustrated her that her father disappeared in his work when his family needed him the most, leaving his children to deal with their mother's death alone and yet still thought that he could wield his authority when it was convenient for him.

"What did you just say?" Frank said, his face starting to turn red. To say he had a bad temper would be an understatement.

"Nothing," Erica said. She sat down at the kitchen table and finally noticed all the timeturners on the table. "Still haven't got it yet?" she asked, pointing to them. Her father worked in the Department of Mysteries at the Ministry of Magic. He had been trying to replace all the timeturners that had been destroyed a year ago when Harry Potter had battled Voldemort in the Ministry of Magic but was having trouble getting it right.

"Don't try to change the subject!" Frank said as he sat down across from her. "Do you know how worried I've been?"

"Dad, I was only down the street," Erica said.

"It doesn't matter!" Frank said. "You-Know-Who could attack anywhere at anytime, you should know that by now!" He sat down at the table. "Erica," he said gently, "you're all I have left of Shannon." Erica looked down at this; it had been the first time he had mentioned her mother since the funeral.

"Dad, that's not true," Erica said gently.

"No," Frank said, "I know I have your brothers but you look so much like her. I swear, every time I look at you, I see your mother." He was right, Erica looked like an exact image of her mother. She had the same stick straight dark brown hair, dark green eyes and full, pouty lips. He sighed and said, "And no, I still haven't got it."

"Why's it taking so long?" Erica said, feeling a little awkward and ignoring what he said about her mother. She still didn't think it was fair that her brothers could go out and do whatever they wanted while she was punished just because she looked like her mother.

"It's very complicated magic," Frank said. He always became more talkative when you brought up the work that had consumed his life the past three months. "Barney Whitehorn was here earlier testing them. One of them actually took him back to the fourteenth century. Can you believe that? He said it took him twenty different tries until he got back."

"That's insane," Erica said, picking up one of the time turners. "What do you do with them when you find out that they don't work?"

"Take the spells off them and start over," Frank said. "And try desperately to figure out what went wrong."

Erica opened her mouth to respond but was cut off by someone from the living room yelling "Frank! I think I've figured it out!"

"That's Barney," Frank said to her before hurrying into the living room and kneeling in front of the fireplace.

Erica sighed. She could just picture her father kneeling in front of the fireplace, whispering with the floating head of his eighty-year-old coworker about something that probably wouldn't even work anyways. She picked up one of the timeturners and stared at it. There was nothing Erica wanted more than to go back in time, to before Voldemort had come back and everything in her life had been wonderfully normal. "It's a pity you don't work," she said to the small object before flicking it with her finger, causing it to spin. When it stopped spinning, the kitchen dissolved around her and her stomach felt as if she were going down a large drop in a rollercoaster backwards. Colors and shapes rushed past her in a blur and there was a loud buzzing in her ears. She yelled for help but couldn't hear herself. Finally, everything came back into focus and the buzzing was gone. She was standing in her kitchen but almost didn't recognize it. It looked completely different. There were no pictures on the refrigerator, none of those disgusting protein shakes her brothers liked so much out on the counter and none of her father's work cluttering the table. The wallpaper was different and the kitchen table was smaller and looked much more expensive. "What's going on?" she thought out loud as she looked at the clock on the wall and saw that it was 7:30 in the morning. At that moment, an elderly woman walked into the kitchen in a fluffy pink bathrobe and screamed in horror. Erica let out a small, high-pitched scream in surprise.

"What are you doing in my house?" the woman shrieked.

"Your house?" Erica said in shock. "This is my house!"

The woman's face turned red and she replied angrily, "My Lenny built this house thirty-five years ago and I have lived here ever since! This is my house!"

"Who the fuck is Lenny?" Erica said, still shocked.

The old woman had apparently had enough. She grabbed a rolling pin off the counter and tried to hit Erica in the head with it. Erica ducked and ran to the other side of the room, dropping the timeturner in the process. "Oh shit," she said, as it shattered on the tiled floor.

The older woman swung the rolling pin and this time got Erica right in the back of the head. "Get out!" she yelled. "Get out of my house or I'm calling the police!"

Erica didn't have to be told twice. She ran as fast as she could out of the house and didn't stop until she was four blocks away. Once she was what she thought was a safe distance away from that crazy, rolling pin-swinging woman, she sat down on the curb. She felt completely helpless. She had no money, muggle or magical, on her and had no idea what year it was. Finally, after she had been sitting there for what felt like an hour, she decided to stop feeling sorry for herself and she got up. She was in London, only a couple miles away from the Leaky Cauldron and the sun was out. Surely she could walk to the Leaky Cauldron, find out what the date was and get some money from Gringotts.

An hour later, she was walking into the dark, shabby inn that was the Leaky Cauldron. She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Tom behind the bar, wiping at a cup with a white rag. She looked around the small, dirty room and saw that it was almost empty, there was only one wizard sitting in dark corner reading The Daily Prophet. She walked up the counter and said brightly, "Hello!"

"Hello," Tom said. "Can I get you anything?"

"Just some water, please," she said as she sat down on a stool at the bar. When Tom brought her the water, she said, "You wouldn't happen to know what the date is, do you? The days always seem to blur together in the summer."

Tom smiled and said, "I was the same way when I was at Hogwarts. It's the twenty-ninth of August."

"Oh," Erica said. That didn't make any sense. If she had only gone back one month, why was there some random old woman living in her house? "And the year is…?" she asked, trying to sound as casual as possible.

Tom looked at her strangely as he said, "1975."

Erica choked on the water she was drinking. Once she had regained her composure, she said, "Of course it is. Err… how much do I owe you for the water?"

"Nothing," he said, still looking at her as if she should be taken to St. Mungo's.

"Oh right, okay," she said. She got up and walked to a table next to a window in a daze. What was she going to do? She had gone back twenty-two years in time with only her wand and had no way of getting back. She wasn't even supposed to exist until 1981! When she realized that, she started to cry. She had never felt more alone or helpless in her entire life. She sat there for a long time, tears sliding silently down her face as she tried to think of ways she could get out of there.

Finally, when she decided she would go to the Ministry of Magic and explain her situation to anyone she could, she heard the bell on the door ring as someone walked in. "Hargid!" Tom said. "The usual, is it?"

"Not now, Tom," Hagrid said, "I've got ter get somethin' from Gringotts for Dumblefore firs'."

Erica was so shocked to see Hagrid that she was speechless. Hagrid was an extremely large man that was very friendly with the students at Hogwarts. He had been gameskeeper for years and became the professor of Care of Magical Creatues in her second year. She had loved his class, even though it was often a bit dangerous, and had planned to take the N.E.W.T. level course before Hogwarts closed. She found her voice and said, "Hagrid!"

Hagrid turned around and looked at her strangely. "I'm sorry," he said, looking confused, "Do I know yeh?"

"I'm a student at Hogwarts," Erica said. She suddenly had a wonderful idea. She would go and tell Professor Dumbledore what had happened. She knew he had to be headmaster now and still, well, alive. There didn't seem like there was anything that man couldn't fix.

Hagrid stared at her and said, "Are you sure? I don't recognize yeh."

"Positive," Erica said. "Is Professor Dumbledore up at the school?"

"O' course," Hagrid said, looking at her the same way Tom had when she had asked what year it was.

"I need to see him," she said. "Right away. It's an emergency."

"Can't it wait until school starts?" Hagrid said, looking a little surprised.

"No!" Erica said. "Really, it's a very big emergency. I need to see him right now."

Hagrid eyed the girl thoughtfully. He noticed her red puffy eyes and wet cheeks for the first time and decided to humor her. "All righ'," he said, leading her over to the fireplace. He grabbed a pinch of Floo Powder from the mantel, threw it in the fire and shouted "Dumbledore's office, Hogwarts!" Erica did the same and the next thing she knew, she was standing in the fireplace of the headmaster's office. She paled when she saw Dumbledore sitting behind his desk. It was almost like seeing a ghost, even if he was over twenty years younger.

"Ah, Hagrid, I didn't realize you would be bringing guests," Professor Dumbledore said, eyeing the small, teenaged girl next to his gameskeeper.

"I ran into her at the Leaky Cauldron," Hagrid said. "She said she was a studen' at the school and she had to speak with yeh righ' away. Emergency or summat."

"Yes," Dumbledore said, looking at Erica suspiciously now. "Hagrid, why don't you go back to Diagon Alley now while I talk with this young lady? Hopefully you won't run into anymore distressed students." Hargid nodded and soon left through the fireplace. "Please sit," Dumbledore said to Erica, motioning to the chair in front of his desk. Once she was seated, he said, "Now, please tell me what is so urgent that you have to lie to my gameskeeper about being a student."

Erica blushed and looked down at her feet. "I'm sorry about that, Professor Dumbledore. I don't know how to say this without sounding completely insane so I'm just going to come right out and say it." Dumbledore was looking extremely perplexed now. "I am a student at this school. From the future, I started in 1992 to be exact and I was just about to enter my sixth year in 1997 when I… err.. crossed paths with a wonky timeturner."

"Timeturner?" Dumbledore interrupted her, looking extremely confused.

"You don't know what that is," Erica said, her eyes widening. "That can't be good."

"No, I know what they are," Dumbledore said. "There was mention in the Daily Prophet of the Minister for Magic pressing a piece of legislature through that would allow the Ministry to make and regulate the use of them. But of course, this was all theory."

"Theory?" Erica said, trying not to sound too hysterical. "You mean, they haven't even been invented yet?"

"Well, no one has made an actual timeturner yet, if that's what you mean," Dumbledore said. "They don't intend to make any for three years, at the least. Like I said, it's all theoretical right now."

Erica sat there, completely speechless. She didn't know what to do now. She sat forward in her chair and put her head in her hands. "I'm never going to get back," she said, sounding very upset.

"You can't use the one you have?" Dumbledore asked.

"No," Erica said, sitting up and trying very hard not to cry. "It – It broke. I was trying to get away from this crazy woman who was swinging a rolling pin and I – I dropped it and it shattered. And I would have fixed it, except I was way more concerned with the rolling pin that was being swung at my face. And now I'm stuck here." She couldn't hold the tears back any longer. She put her head in her hands again, trying to hide the fact that she was crying from the headmaster.

"Miss Costello," Dumbledore said gently. "I can assure you that I will do everything in my power to help you get back to the future."

"Thank you, sir," she said, but it was muffled by her hands.

"Now, can you tell me how you got your hands on a bad timeturner?" Dumbledore asked.

Erica wiped her eyes and sat up. "I got it from my father," she said. "All the timeturners at the Ministry of Magic had been destroyed in the battle and – "

"There was a battle at the Ministry of Magic?" Dumbledore asked, unable to hide his shock.

Erica nodded. "Yeah, last year. It was in the Department of Mysteries. I don't know why it happened there but my father said they made a quite a mess. All I know is that Voldemort was there fighting Harry Potter and… well, you. Voldemort escaped but it finally made the Ministry acknowledge his return."

"His return?" Dumbledore said, looking extremely shocked.

"I probably shouldn't be talking about that," Erica said, looking down at her hands. "But they destroyed all of the timeturners and my father was trying to fix them. Except he was having a lot of trouble because it's so complicated, you know? Anyways, he brought a few home, which is something he's been doing all the time since my mother died, and he told me that he had taken the enchantment off of them. So I picked one of them up and started messing around with it. The next thing I knew, I was in my kitchen but some old lady came in and told me, very forcefully, that it was her house and she wanted me to leave immiediately."

Dumbledore looked very thoughtful for a moment. "So you know everything that happens in the war with Voldemort up until 1997?"

"Yes," Erica said, suddenly looking very awkward, "but I don't really think I should talk it."

"No," Dumbledore said. "You shouldn't."

Erica nodded and looked his kind, blue eyes. "So what can you do to get me out of here?"

"I'm afraid that there is nothing I can do right now, Miss Costello," Dumbledore said. Erica nodded and looked down at the floor. "However, I'm afraid that your knowledge of future events puts you in a very dangerous situation."

"Dangerous?" Erica asked. "Why?"

"I'm almost certain that if Voldemort were to find out about you, he would stop at nothing to capture you. With what you know, he would be able to figure out ways to gain power faster and maintain it without making any of the mistakes he will make, if I am to believe what you mentioned about his return," Dumbledore said. "And I can assure you that if Voldemort were to get his hands on you, he would not ask you nicely about what happens in the future. What we have to do is hide you and hope that he never finds out about you, which means you can't mention anything about what happens in the future in passing ever again. The slightest slip could ruin everything. Now, did you talk about this with anyone else?"

"Right after I left my house, I went to the Leaky Cauldron and asked Tom what year it was," Erica said. "I'm sure that must have given something away."

"Was there anyone else there?" Dumbledore asked.

Erica thought for a minute and said, "Yeah. I think there was one other person but I didn't get a good look at them."

"Then we mustn't hesitate in putting our plan into action," Dumbledore said.

Erica looked a little scared at this. "How are you going to hide me? Fidelius Charm?" she asked. She was wary of being locked away somewhere, alone for Merlin knows how long until Dumbledore could find a solution.

Dumbledore thought for a moment and then said, "That could work. But I think I'd like to keep you somewhere where I could easily keep an eye on you."

Erica understood what he was saying at once. "Here? You want me to stay here?"

"Yes. Unless you have a problem with it?" Erica shook her head and he continued, "Right. We will tell the students that you are a transfer student – "

"From where?" Erica interrupted, a little uneasy about lying to everyone she would come into contact with.

Dumbledore sighed. "I don't know. We'll say you were home schooled until now. You say you were supposed to be entering your sixth year?" Erica nodded. "So I assume you've already taken your O.W.L.s?"

"Yes," she said. "I got nine."

"Congratulations," Dumbledore smiled. "In which subjects?"

"Astronomy, Charms, Care of Magical Creatures, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Herbology, Potions, Transfiguration, Arithmancy and Muggle Studies," Erica recited.

"And you know that I am going to have to assume that you are right about this since I can not make you take them again?" he asked. Erica nodded but didn't understand why she could suddenly see the note with her grades on it so clearly in her mind. Dumbledore's eyes twinkled as he said, "Right then. You will stay here for now. Hagrid will escort you to Kings Cross on September 1st and you will take the train up to school with the rest of the students. You will be sorted into a house with the rest of the first years and will start your N.E.W.T. level classes while we try and think of a way to get you back to 1997."

"Thank you, Professor," Erica said.

"Now, come, I'll show you where you'll be staying until the first," he said, leading her out of his office. Erica was feeling very apprehensive about this. She didn't know how she would be able to lie to everyone; she had always been such a bad liar. She just hoped that Dumbledore could find a way to get her back soon.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:** Here's chapter two! Please read and review!

**Chapter Two**

Erica had found it very strange being at Hogwarts over the next couple days. She had never been one to stay over the holidays and the emptiness of the castle was very disconcerting. She was, however, glad to be back at school. She had thought that she would never see Hogwarts again when the board had decided to close it over the summer. She had to keep reminding herself, though, that this was not the Hogwarts she was used to. This was the Hogwarts of the 1970s, the only people she would recognize would be some of the professors.

Hagrid had taken her to Diagon Alley to get school supplies the other day. Erica wasn't sure where the money had come from but she was determined to somehow pay Dumbledore back. And that was why she was now sitting in an empty compartment on the Hogwarts Express in second-hand robes. She was trying very hard not to think about past rides on the Hogwarts Express, when she had been surrounded by the friends that she probably wouldn't be able to see for a long time. She knew if she spent too much time thinking about that, she would end up crying again and she didn't want any of her new classmates to think she was some kind of human hosepipe. So instead, she had been sitting in that empty compartment for an hour and a half, watching students arrive at the platform and say goodbye to their parents. Finally, the train started to move and she watched them as they walked by in the corridor, trying to find a compartment to sit in. She had never felt so alone in her entire life. Finally, she couldn't take it anymore. She leaned against the window and fell asleep.

She was torn out of her sleep when four rather good-looking teenage boys ran into her compartment and slammed the door behind them. One was rather tall and scrawny with messy black hair and hazel eyes behind silver-framed glasses. One was rather short, but still taller than her, and had blonde hair and watery blue eyes. Another had brown hair, brown eyes and looked a little sickly. The last one was taller than the rest and was easily the best looking of the group; he had shaggy black hair and grey eyes. "Did you see his face?" the blonde-haired one asked while trying to control his laughter.

"He didn't know what hit him," the tallest of the four said, smiling widely.

"That will teach him to wash his hair," the messy-haired one laughed. He peeked through the blinds on the door, looking for the boy they were talking about.

The brown-haired one smirked and said, "Honestly, Prongs, I really don't removing Snape's hair is going to teach him to actually _wash_ it once in a while."

Once what he said sunk in, Erica blurted out, "Snape? Snape's here?"

The four boys whipped around and looked a little confused by her. "Sorry," the blonde one said. "We thought this compartment was empty."

Erica ignored this and said, "Is Snape really here?" Erica had never been very fond of Professor Snape. He had always been a little intimidating and the fact that he seemed to dislike anyone that wasn't in Slytherin didn't really help. Of course, Erica's feelings of dislike towards him had grown considerably after he had killed Professor Dumbledore at the end of her fifth year at Hogwarts.

"Of course he is," the tallest one said, looking at her strangely. "Why wouldn't he be here?"

"There's no way Snape would want to miss starting his N.E.W.T.-level classes," the brown-haired boy said, also looking a little suspicious of her.

"We tried our hardest to make him stay at home this year," the blonde one said, smirking. "It's a pity he enjoys getting an education."

The messy-haired boy sighed dramatically and said, "We did our best to persuade him to at least wash his greasy hair so we wouldn't have to be subjected to it anymore, but it looks like the stubborn git didn't bathe all summer."

Erica laughed and said, "So he's in sixth-year then?" She was mostly relieved that he wasn't a professor anymore. She was certain that he was a Slytherin and since she had been in Gryffindor before, she knew she wouldn't have to see all that much of him.

"What, are you new? Or have you just not been paying attention all these years?" the tall one asked, looking at her as if another head had just sprouted from her shoulder.

"Actually, I am new," Erica said, a little offended. "I've never been to Hogwarts before."

"You look a little old for a first year," the messy-haired boy said.

"I'm transferring in for my sixth year. I've been home schooled up to this point," Erica said, hoping that she sounded convincing.

"So how did you know about Snape?" the tall one asked skeptically.

"I've heard a lot about him," Erica said, trying to think up a lie quickly. "A lot of people told me to stay away from him."

"Good advice," the blonde said.

"So you must have heard all about us then?" the messy-haired boy said, smiling.

Erica looked at the four boys for a second, knowing she had never heard anything about them. The messy-haired one did look a lot like Harry Potter though. "Nope," she said. "Sorry."

"What?" he said, looking scandalized. "That's just not right." The other three shook their heads, acting as if it were some kind of crime.

Erica waited for them to introduce themselves and when they didn't, she said, "And you are…?"

"I'm James Potter," the messy-haired one said, pointing to himself. "And this is Peter Pettigrew, Remus Lupin and Sirius Black."

"Oh, nice to meet you," Erica said. "I'm Erica Costello."

"So who told you about Snape?" Sirius asked, still looking a little suspicious.

"Oh, just some… people," Erica said, knowing how lame she sounded.

"Right." Sirius turned to the other three and said, "We better get back to the compartment." With that, he left the compartment with James and Peter following him closely.

"See you up at school," Remus said, smiling at her before walking out of the compartment. "That was kind of rude," he said when he had caught up with the other three Marauders.

"Who cares?" Sirius said as they reached the compartment they had been sitting in earlier. "She knows people that know Snape but not us? She's probably some stuck up pureblood that's well on her way to becoming a Death Eater."

"How can you just make that assumption?" Remus asked.

"Come on, Moony! If it were students at the school that had told her about him, they would have at least mentioned us," Sirius said.

"But they told her to stay away from him," James said absent-mindedly, standing at the window on the door to the corridor so he'd know if a certain redhead passed by.

"That doesn't prove anything," Sirius said as he tore the wrapper off a chocolate frog and stuffed it in his mouth. "Maybe they know he's a half-blood and they only want her around purebloods."

"Snape's a half-blood?" James said, finally turning away from the window. "How do you know that?"

"I heard my mother tell Regulus to stay away from him because his father's a muggleborn," Sirius said darkly.

"You're just mad because she didn't know who the infamous Sirius Black was," James smirked, turning back to the window.

Sirius stuffed another chocolate frog in his mouth and said, "No, that's definitely not it. That girl was hiding something."

"Padfoot," Remus said, looking a little pained, "please don't talk when you have food in your mouth. It's making me sick."

"She was pretty fit, though," Peter said.

James nodded in agreement while Sirius scoffed. "There are plenty of other more attractive girls here, Wormtail," Sirius said.

* * *

When Erica stepped off the train and onto the platform at Hogsmeade, she felt like there were butterflies being sick in her stomach. It was almost the same way she had felt when she had stepped onto the platform as a first year. At least this time she knew it was going to be a hat that would do the sorting, she remembered how scared she'd been when her older brothers had told her she'd have to take on a boggart. Instead of taking the boats over the lake with the first years, she quickly jumped into an empty carriage and waited to be taken to the castle.

After a few minutes, the door opened and a girl with shoulder-length dark red hair and bright green eyes climbed in. "Sorry," she said, smiling politely at Erica, "all the rest were full."

"Oh, it's fine," Erica said. She opened her mouth to introduce herself when the door flew open again and the four boys from before climbed into the carriage.

"Lily, why'd you run away so quickly?" James said, brightly.

Lily groaned and said, "Because I didn't want to sit with you, Potter. Honestly, can't you take the hint?"

Sirius snorted. "I don't think James would even notice the hint if it danced naked in front of him." He turned and frowned as he noticed Erica for the first time. "What are you doing here?" he asked sharply.

Erica was really starting to get annoyed with this guy. She wasn't sure what she had done to make him so angry with her. "Going to the castle," she said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"Shouldn't you be taking the boats with Hagrid?" he asked.

"Don't be silly, Black," Lily said, looking a little confused. "Why would she be taking the boats with the first years?"

"Because she's new," Sirius said.

Lily turned and looked at her critically for a moment. "Aren't you a little old for a first year?"

James laughed. "That's what I said!"

"I'm transferring in," Erica explained. "I was home schooled before."

"Oh," Lily said. "You really should have taken the boats. It's a great way to see Hogwarts for the first time, when you're on the lake, I mean. It just looks so..." Lily trailed off, trying to think of the right word.

"Magical?" Remus smiled and Lily nodded, agreeing with him. He knew exactly what Lily meant. He turned to Erica and said, "You really should have gone. You're missing out."

Erica smiled, silently agreeing with them. She knew she'd never forget the boat ride she took over the lake as a first year or when she saw Hogwarts for the first time. "I don't know," she lied. "I heard there was a giant squid in the lake. I thought it sounded kind of… scary."

"Oh right, you heard about it from those _people_," Sirius said.

"What is your problem?" Erica said, getting really sick of his attitude.

"I don't like liars," he said evenly.

Erica narrowed her eyes at him and muttered, "I'm not a liar." Then she turned and looked out the window, realizing that the ride up to the castle seemed to be taking a lot longer than usual.

"Right," Remus said, clearing his throat. "What house do you think you'll get sorted into?"

Erica was about to answer him when Sirius decided to get right to the point. "So, new girl, are you a pureblood?"

Remus put his head in his hands, feeling a little embarrassed by his friend. James and Peter were looking at Sirius as if they really wished he hadn't brought that up now and Lily looked incredibly shocked. Erica raised an eyebrow at this and said, "Why? Does that matter to you?"

"Of course not. Does it matter you?" he asked pointedly.

"No!" Erica said, offended that he would even ask that.

"Oh really? Then how is it that you know people that are acquainted with Snape?" Sirius said.

"Oh, so I'm a Death Eater because I know people that know and dislike Snape?" Erica said. "That really makes _so_ much sense!" The carriage stopped and she was the first one to get out, shaking her head in frustration.

The redhead caught up with her in the Entrance Hall and said, "I'm sorry that your first experience with Hogwarts students had to be with those pricks."

Erica smiled and said, "The other three really weren't that bad. It was just that Sirius Black that was a wicked asshole."

"Oh believe me, the other three are just as bad," Lily said, smiling slightly. "Especially Potter. I'm Lily Evans, by the way."

Erica smiled and shook her hand. "Erica Costello."

Lily led her to a small room off the Entrance Hall. "You should probably wait here until Professor McGonagall gets back with the first years."

Erica recognized the room as the one she had waited in as a first year before she got sorted. "Thanks," she said, smiling at Lily, before entering the room.

She leaned against the far wall of the room and waited for what felt like half an hour when Professor McGonagall appeared with all the first years. "Ah, Miss Costello, I thought you might have gotten lost," McGonagall said. Then she turned to the first years and said, "Please wait here quietly. I will come and get you in a moment." Then she left, closing the door behind her.

Erica heard one of the first years near her whispering, "My sister told me we'd have to duel with one of the professors!" Erica tried really hard not to laugh. She remembered how nervous she had been when McGonagall had left her and her classmates there in her first year.

Instead of telling the first years what would be sorting them, she watched in amusement as they got more and more nervous as the minutes passed. Finally, McGonagall came and brought them into the Great Hall. Erica looked up at the ceiling, which had been enchanted to look like the sky, in amazement; she forgot how much she loved the Great Hall. She stood in front of the stool with the rest of the first years, feeling very awkward. McGonagall cleared her throat, opened up a large scroll in front of her and the sorting began. When all the first years had been sorted, Dumbledore stood up and said, "I'd like to introduce you all to Erica Costello, the first transfer student that Hogwarts has had in a long time. I trust you all to make her feel welcome and at home." He nodded at Erica and she walked up the stool and put the hat on her head.

The same thing happened as last time. She had barely put it on when it shouted, "Gryffindor!" She put the hat on the stool and walked over the Gryffindor table.

She was about to sit down with the rest of the first years when she noticed Lily and another girl waving her over to them. She walked down to where they were and sat down just as the food appeared on the table. "Hello again," she smiled.

"Hey," Lily said. She pointed to the girl next to her and said, "This is Jennifer Morrison."

"Hi!" Jennifer said, reaching her hand across the table and shaking Erica's. "Call me Jenn." Jenn had short, curly blonde hair, warm brown eyes and a round, friendly face. "Lily said you were home-schooled until now. Is that true?" Erica nodded. "Are you one of those weirdly religious people or something?"

Erica laughed. "No!"

"Oh, ok," Jenn said. "So why were you home-schooled then?"

Erica shrugged. "My mum wanted us to be home-schooled so we were."

"We?"

"Yeah, I have four brothers," Erica said, smiling sadly. Thinking about her family made her feel depressed.

"So why are you here now?" she asked.

Erica looked down at the mashed potatoes on her plate and muttered, "I'd rather not talk about it." She had come up with a million things she could tell people when they asked that question but none of them had sounded believable enough. So she decided that she wouldn't say anything. She grabbed her fork and was about to take a bite of her mashed potatoes when they blew up in her face. "What the hell!" she said as she wiped them off.

Lily glared down the table at the Marauders. Sirius was beside himself with laughter while James and Peter were sniggering and Remus was staring determinedly at his plate, looking very interested in his carrots. "What pricks! I'm going to go and give them a detention."

"No," Erica said, stopping Lily from getting up. "Don't bother." She glared at them and flipped them off.

Jenn laughed. "You make friends fast."

"That Black has got it out for me and I have no idea why," Erica said, feeling a little annoyed. She recounted her encounter with the Marauders on the train and in the carriage to Lily and Jenn.

"That's so weird," Jenn said. "I'd never expect Black to act like that, like you were guilty by association, considering his family."

"Why?" Erica asked curiously.

"You haven't heard of the Blacks?" Jenn said, looking astonished. "They're all very dark wizards. My father told me that the Ministry suspects that his cousins, Bellatrix and Narcissa, have joined the Death Eaters. He's the only Black to not be put in Slytherin."

"Oh," Erica said, looking down the table at him. She felt angrier than she had in a while when she thought about what a little hypocrite he had been. She turned back to Jenn and said, "What does your father do?"

"He works in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement," Jenn said.

Jenn and Lily spent the rest of dinner telling Erica about the classes at Hogwarts. They told her which professors were easy and which were hard. They also told her which students she should stay away from, the Marauders being at the top of that list. When the feast was over, they showed her how to get to Gryffindor tower and told her the password. She followed them up to the sixth year girl's dormitory, quickly changed into her pajamas and got into bed. Maybe staying here until Dumbledore figured out how to get her back to her time wouldn't be that bad. Lily and Jenn both seemed nice and Erica thought there was a good possibility they would become friends. Plus, she was just happy to be back at Hogwarts for her sixth year; she had hated the tutor her father had hired after the school had closed down. But she wasn't sure how she was going to deal with that Sirius Black, or even why he had such a problem with her.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to J

Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling.

A/N: I would have posted this sooner but I had the flu. Please read and review!!

**Chapter 3**

Erica got up early the next morning and made her way down to the Great Hall. She was surprised to see that Lily was already down there, looking extremely angry. She sat down across from her and said, "What's wrong?"

"It's nothing," Lily said, staring angrily down at her empty plate. She noticed Erica putting eggs on her plate and said, "I wouldn't eat breakfast today if I were you."

"Why not?" Erica asked, not sure if Lily had just insulted her.

"The Marauders," Lily said darkly.

"Who?" Erica asked, feeling really confused now.

"Potter and his stupid friends," Lily said. "That's what they call themselves. They pull a prank every year on the first day of school. This year they did something to the food. Snape and Andrews both ate the bacon and they sprouted bright yellow feathers. I don't even want to know what they did to the eggs."

Erica made a face and pushed her plate away. She looked down the table at the four boys and saw that they were laughing about something. "That's so stupid," she said. She watched Lily grab _The Standard Book of Spells Grade 6_ out of her book bag. "Aren't you going to do something?"

Lily frowned and said, "I already did. They insist that they're innocent but that's bollocks." Then she turned to her book and started to read.

"Oh," Erica said, feeling slightly uncomfortable. She wished Professor McGonagall would give out the schedules to the sixth years soon. She sat there quietly, looking around at the other students.

A couple minutes later, Jenn entered the Great Hall and sat down next to Erica. She smiled tiredly at the two girls before starting to put some eggs on her plate. "Don't eat the food!" Lily said urgently.

Jenn put down her fork and said, "Why?"

"Why do you think?" Lily said, before turning back to her book.

Jenn groaned and glared down at the Marauders. "They're so immature."

"I don't understand," Erica said, turning to Jenn. "Don't people get angry with them? I mean, now no one can eat breakfast or they'll turn into a chicken or something."

"They've turned people into chickens?!" Jenn asked in surprise. "That's really advanced mag – "

"No, they haven't," Lily said. "They've just made people grow feathers."

"Oh," Jenn said, turning to Erica. "It doesn't matter what they do. They could turn us all into puffskeins and half the students here would still love them."

"Or fear them," Lily added.

"And nobody does anything?" Erica said, a little shocked.

"Lily does," Jenn smirked.

"Fat lot of good it does," Lily muttered. She closed her book and turned to Erica. "It's because the whole school's scared of them. If you stand up to them, you're bound to lose an eyebrow or be half transfigured into a fish or something equally stupid and childish."

"But they didn't do anything to you," Erica said. She thought it was pretty stupid that the whole school just let the four boys do whatever they pleased.

"That's because James is madly in love with Lily," Jenn said, still smirking.

Lily groaned at this and said, quite loudly, "He is not! He – " She stopped when she noticed Professor McGonagall standing behind her. She grinned sheepishly and said, "Sorry, Professor." Then she started to discuss the classes she wanted to take with McGonagall.

Jenn turned to Erica and said quietly, "Potter's been after her since the start of fifth year. He asks her out almost every single time she's near him. And well, he kind of stalks her sometimes. He only does it to make her angry."

"Oh," Erica said.

Once all three had gotten their schedules from McGonagall, they started walking to N.E.W.T. level Charms. Jenn grabbed Lily schedule and said, "Merlin, Lily. How many classes are you taking?"

"Only seven," Lily said, snatching it back. "That's not too many."

"Seven N.E.W.T. level classes," Jenn pointed out. "You're going to go mad."

Lily rolled her eyes and said, "I'm going to be fine." She grabbed Jenn's schedule and laughed. "Jenn, I'm only taking one more class than you."

Jenn laughed, "Yeah, I don't know how I'm going to manage six." When they had queued up outside Professor Flitwick's classroom, Jenn turned to Erica and said, "What classes are you taking?"

Erica handed them her schedule and then leaned back against the wall. Her first class hadn't even started yet but she was already sick of Hogwarts in the 1970s. She missed her brothers, her friends, and even her father. She just wanted to go home. "So what's this Professor Flitwick like?" she asked. The truth was that Charms had been her favorite class and Flitwick had been her favorite teacher at Hogwarts, but she couldn't let Jenn and Lily know that.

Lily opened her mouth to answer her when Flitwick opened the door to the classroom and everyone went inside. Erica followed Lily and Jenn to a corner of the classroom, sitting at one of the tables behind them. Once she was seated and her books were out, Lily turned around and said, "He's an excellent teacher. He – "

She was cut off by James Potter. "Alright, Evans?" he asked as he sat down next to Erica.

"Go away, Potter," Lily said darkly before turning around in her seat.

James sighed and then turned to Erica. He smiled and said, "One of these days, she's going to see reason and go out with me."

"Not bloody likely," Lily muttered in front of them.

Someone behind them laughed loudly, although it sounded more like a bark than anything. Erica turned in her seat and saw that Sirius Black and Remus Lupin were seated behind her. Sirius stopped laughing the second she turned around and glared at her. She gave him a dirty look and faced forward. At that moment, Professor Flitwick started the class.

As much as Erica enjoyed being back in Flitwick's class, she started to tune him out. She had already learned about the Aguamenti charm from the tutor her father had hired for her and her brothers but that didn't really matter. She was actually quite distracted by the person sitting next to her. James Potter bore a scary resemblance to Harry Potter, the infamous Boy Who Lived. Erica had been thinking about it since yesterday and she had come to the conclusion that James was probably Harry's father. She wondered if he had already started to fight against Voldemort, if he even knew what the next five years held for him. The fact that she was sitting next to Harry Potter's father made Erica wonder where Harry's mother was, if she was also in this classroom. Maybe it was Lily, although she seriously doubted Lily would ever willingly procreate with James and he didn't really seem like some kind of sexual deviant to her. The girl was more likely to be one of the ones she had seen looking at James longingly at breakfast. And then there was Sirius Black… the man who escaped from Azkaban was being a downright bastard to her. She had read that he had sold his friends, James Potter and whoever his wife was, to Voldemort. However, about a year ago, there had been an article in the paper clearing him of all charges. Her father had told her that Sirius had died while in the battle at the ministry. It was all very confusing and Erica found that thinking about Sirius Black and how hypocritical he was only seemed to make her incredibly angry. She turned her thoughts to the rest of the Marauders. It was weird seeing Remus Lupin as a teenager when he had been her Defense Against the Dark Arts professor in second year. She wondered if he was already a werewolf or if he hadn't yet felt the call of the moon. And she had not heard much about Peter Pettigrew, except that he had been killed by Sirius Black right after James had died. However, she didn't know what that meant for him now that Black had been cleared of the charges.

She was broken out of her reverie by James Potter elbowing her in the side. She looked at him in confusion until Professor Flitwick said, "Miss Costello?"

Erica blushed and looked at the blackboard, trying to figure out what exactly Flitwick had asked her. She heard someone sniggering behind her and somehow, she knew that it was Black. After a few seconds of her staring wide eyed at the professor, James whispered, "It's a conjuring spell."

"It's a conjuring spell," Erica repeated loudly to Flitwick.

"Correct," Flitwick said. He turned to Jenn and said, "And what does Aguamenti conjure, Miss Morrison?"

Erica tuned out Jenn's answer and turned to James. "Thanks," she muttered.

He smiled widely at her. "It was nothing." Someone kicked the back of his chair and they both turned around to see Sirius looking at James questioningly. Erica quickly turned around again and tried to listen to Flitwick.

--

By the time supper came around, Erica was wishing she was back at home, in 1997, with her tutor. She couldn't believe she had so much homework. Didn't the professors realize that they wouldn't be taking the N.E.W.T.s until next year? She sat down next Jenn at the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall and said, "I am famished. This food hasn't been tampered with, has it?"

"Not that I know of," Jenn said in between bites of her mashed potatoes.

"Thank Merlin," Erica said as she started to pile food on to her plate.

Lily sat down across from Jenn, looking exasperated. "I am going to kill James Potter."

"What did he do now?" Jenn asked, sounding exasperated.

"He and Black had cornered Snape in the Transfiguration hallway," Lily said. "I don't understand what they have against the poor boy anyways."

Jenn looked suspicious. "You haven't decided to become friends with him again, have you?"

Erica choked on her steak. Jenn looked at her in confusion as she slapped her on the back. Once she had finished choking, Erica turned to Lily and said, "You were friends with Snape?"

Lily groaned. "Don't tell me you've bought into the Marauders' story of how he's a Death Eater in the making?"

Erica's cheeks flushed. If only Lily knew how correct the Marauders were about Snape… "I – I didn't…" Erica muttered, trying to think of something to say. "I just… you don't seem like you'd be friends with him."

Jenn actually laughed at Erica's muttering. Lily rolled her eyes at this and said, "We live in the same neighborhood. I met him when I was ten. He's the one that told me I was a witch. We were friends for a long time after that."

"But… you're a muggle born," Erica said. "I thought Snape cared about things like that."

"He didn't use to," Lily said sadly. She looked down at her plate and started to push her food around dejectedly. "I'm not hungry anymore," she said. And then she grabbed her things and left the Great Hall.

"I'm sorry," Erica said, turning to Jenn. "I didn't mean anything by it."

"It's ok," Jenn said, waving her hand. "It's just a fresh wound, you know? Their friendship ended at the end of last year when he let her know that he did care about the status of her blood in front of practically the whole school. It was pretty brutal."

"That's awful," Erica said. She looked over at Snape, who was sitting at the Slytherin table. It was weird to see him like this, a young, harmless teenager when she knew what he would grow into. It seemed like he was already on the path that would lead him to murdering Albus Dumbledore.

"How do you know Snape anyways?" Jenn asked, looking at her curiously.

Erica looked at Jenn, feeling slightly panicked. "I've just… heard about him from my tutor."

"How did your tutor know him?" Jenn asked. She didn't look as if she quite believed Erica's story.

Erica just shrugged and turned to her plate, wishing she hadn't opened her big mouth about Snape. It was just so weird being around all these people whose tragic stories she had read about in the Daily Prophet. All of a sudden, it felt like the walls were closing in on her. Here she was with a bunch of people whose futures were full of tragedy and death and she was the only one who knew it. And she couldn't warn them. Professor Dumbledore had warned her numerous times that she wasn't to tell anyone what she knew of the future. She couldn't sit there anymore, surrounded by people who were really over twenty years older than her, many of whom would be lost in the war against Voldemort. She put her fork down and said, "You know, I'm not really hungry either."

She got up and practically ran out of the Great Hall. Once she hit the Entrance Hall, she quickened her pace to a full out sprint and she didn't stop until she had reached her dormitory. She fell down onto her bed and started to hyperventilate. She couldn't stop thinking about the people in the Great Hall, the ones like Peter Pettigrew and James Potter, who would soon be dead and had no idea of that fact. She had to go to Dumbledore and tell him that she couldn't do this anymore; he had to hide her somewhere else.

A few moments after she had reached her dorm, the door opened and Lily walked in. "Erica? Why were you just sprinting through the castle?" she asked. When her eyes fell on Erica, they grew wide and she rushed over to Erica's bed. "Are you alright? Do you need to see Madam Pomfrey?"

She shook her head. "I'm fine," she whispered, trying desperately to calm herself down.

Lily sat down next to Erica and watched her in concern. Once her breathing had gone back to normal, Lily asked, "What's wrong?"

Erica just sighed and put her head in her hands. "I don't think I can do this."

"Do what? Go to Hogwarts?" Lily asked. When Erica didn't answer, Lily said, "Why did you come here anyways? Not to be rude but it just seems weird for your mom to stop homeschooling you for your N.E.W.T.s."

Erica looked up at Lily. She hadn't come up with a story to tell everyone at Hogwarts so she had decided not to say anything, but now she could see that that wasn't going to work. While looking into Lily's big green eyes, she decided that it would just be best if she told the truth, or the parts of the truth that wouldn't get her into trouble. She would just have to be extremely careful of what it was that she said to people. "My mom died," Erica said softly. "Right after I took the O.W.L.s. And now my father and my brothers are gone too and Dumbledore was nice enough to let me come here but… I don't know if I can handle all this change."

"I'm sorry," Lily said. She put her arm around Erica, not really knowing what to say.

Erica shook her head and put her head back in her hands. "No offense, Lily, but I think I'm just going to go to bed."

Lily nodded and got up. When she reached the door to the dorm, she turned around and said, "Erica, if you ever want to talk about anything, I'm here. You don't have to go through this alone."

"Thanks," Erica said, giving Lily a small smile before going to get her pajamas from her trunk.

Lily smiled back and walked down to the common room. She found a table by one of the windows and started working on her Transfiguration homework. Jenn entered soon after that and sat down next to her. "Where's Erica?"

"She went to bed," Lily said, looking up from her homework.

"It was really weird, you know?" Jenn said. "After you left, we were talking about Snape and she gave me this bullshit story about how her tutor knew him. It was very suspicious."

"Leave her alone," Lily said. "She just lost her whole family."

"Oh," Jenn said, looking slightly ashamed. "I didn't know that."

"Yeah," Lily said. "Can you blame her for making up stories about how she knows Snape? She's already got Black treating her like some pariah because she knows who he is."

"Do you think You-Know-Who and his Death Eaters killed her family?"

Lily gave her a strange look. "Way to make assumptions, Jenn."

"Well, whole families don't just randomly drop dead, Lily. You know as well as I do that You-Know-Who's been behind almost all of the murders that have been in the Daily Prophet, even if the Ministry is trying to cover it up."

"It's possible," Lily said, frowning. "She wasn't really sharing the whole story."

They sat in a thoughtful silence until Jenn asked, "Do you think that's how she knows Snape? Because he's some sort of Death Eater or something?"

"He's not a Death Eater," Lily said forcefully. "Voldemort would never let some sixteen year old join his group of followers." Jenn looked uneasy at the mention of Voldemort's name. "Oh don't be ridiculous, Jenn. Saying his name isn't going to make him appear. It's so silly how everyone has started to call him You-Know-Who."

"People are scared, Lily," Jenn said. "They fear him and they won't say his name because they think it'll lead him to their families for some reason. People can be pretty illogical when they're scared."

Lily knew that. She had entered Hogwarts right when Voldemort had started his reign of terror. She knew she was in more danger than anyone else because she was a muggle-born but she wasn't going to let that fear cloud her senses. She refused to call him You-Know-Who because she was scared and she planned on fighting him as best as she could once she had left Hogwarts. The only thing she feared that was quite irrational was the thought of Snape, the boy she still considered a friend even though they had stopped talking, joining his Death Eaters.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N:** Thank you for all the reviews! I was still pretty sick when I posted the last chapter and it was so nice coming back to see them all when I felt better! I'm sorry it's taken me so long to post this chapter. I've had it finished for a while but I haven't really had the time to post anything... I'm coming to the end of my senior year of college so I've been incredibly busy. And now I feel like I should explain something. I don't dislike Snape. I actually really like his character. However, Erica does dislike because she obviously only knows him as a nasty professor/murderer. So… Snape fans, please don't flame me. And so, on to the chapter. Please review!

**Chapter 4**

The next day, Erica went to Dumbledore's, hoping she could catch him before he left for breakfast. She told the gargoyle the password ("fizzing whizbee") and took the stairs up to his office. She knocked on his door and was very relieved when she heard him say, "Come in."

"Hello Professor," she said, suddenly feeling very small as she walked into his office.

"Ah, hello Miss Costello. You're up very early this morning," Dumbledore said, smiling at her and motioning to the chairs in front of his desk. "Take a seat."

She sat down in front of him and said, "I'm sorry to bother you, sir. It's just… I think I'm having a hard time adjusting and I kind of need some advice."

Dumbledore looked amused. "Yes, I can imagine how different it is here from your time."

"No, it's not that," she said. "I just, I know I'm not supposed to talk about the future with anyone, even you. So you're going to have to trust me on some of this. But it is extremely hard being around some of these people knowing what happens to them. I mean, how can I sit there and befriend someone when I know when they're going to die? Or that they'll become an infamous Death Eater or the exact date that they'll be sentenced to life in Azkaban?"

Dumbledore sat back in his chair. "I know how hard this must be. And the advice I have, you might not want to hear." When Erica didn't say anything, he continued. "The best way to deal with this is to shut yourself off from everyone. Do not befriend anyone. Do not talk to anyone unless it is necessary. That is the only way you can get through this without having that kind of problem."

Erica looked at him in shock. She never had expected to get this kind of advice from the headmaster. "Oh," she said in a small voice

Dumbledore actually smiled at that. "However, Miss Costello, if you do not choose to go that route, you will simply have to try the best you can. I won't pretend that it will be easy but I do believe that it's much better than the alternative. But I want to assure you that my office door will always be open to you when you need it. And there are certain people in your house that will be there for you without asking questions."

Erica smiled at this. "Lily," she said softly.

"That's right," Dumbledore smiled. "I know it will be hard. I have been looking into the time turners at the ministry and it seems that they are currently working on some kind of prototype at the moment. They are hoping for it to be fully functional by March 1978."

"Oh," Erica said. She didn't know what she could do to keep sane for the next two and a half years. "Thanks, Professor."

"You're welcome," he said. "Now I think you'd better get down to breakfast."

"Right," Erica said, getting up. "Bye, Professor Dumbledore, and thank you again."

As she stepped off the moving staircase, she walked right into James Potter. "Hey new girl," he said, smiling. "It's only your third day here and you're already getting in trouble? That's impressive."

Erica actually smiled at that. "I'm sure I didn't manage to break your record."

"Nope," James grinned. "Sirius and I got a detention on our first night here. We were hexing his cousin."

Erica laughed at that. "Figures."

"So what'd you do?" James asked, curiously.

"Oh, I wasn't actually in trouble," Erica grinned. "I just had to talk to Dumbledore about something."

"What about?" James asked. Professor Dumbledore was a kind man who looked out for his students but he had never heard of him summoning students to his office so that he could make sure they were doing alright.

Erica shrugged. "I just needed to talk to him about… certain things." When she saw James's curious look, she continued. "My whole life's changed tremendously in the past two weeks and I needed his advice on… dealing with those changes."

"Oh," James said. They walked in silence until James asked, "You used to be homeschooled, right?" Erica nodded. "So why did your parents decide to send you to Hogwarts now?"

"It wasn't really a decision they made," Erica said. "They're just… simply not around to home school me anymore."

"Oh, I'm sorry," he said softly, assuming that she meant they had been killed. "Was it Voldemort?" Erica nodded. James was about to say something else when someone rounded the corner and started walking towards them. His jaw clenched and he started reaching for his wand in his pocket. "Snivellus," he said coldly.

"Potter," Snape said, sounding just as cold. He looked over at Erica and said, "Ah, I see you're making new mudblood friends."

James pulled his wand out of his pocket and was about to hex Snape but Erica was faster. "_Petrificus Totalus_!" she practically yelled with her wand pointed directly at Snape. Snape's whole body froze and he fell to the floor.

"Nice," James smirked.

Erica looked at Snape in disgust. "Git," she said before walking over him.

James grinned at her. They reached the Great Hall soon after that. Erica scanned the room for Lily or Jenn but couldn't see them at the Gryffindor table. She sighed when she realized that she must have been in Dumbledore's office longer than she had thought. James had spotted his friends and turned to her. "You could sit with us if you want," he offered,

Erica looked over at the marauders and saw that Sirius Black was glaring at the both of them. "Uh… no thanks," she said, smiling at him. She walked over to the deserted end of the table and sat down.

James shrugged and walked over to where the marauders were sitting. Sirius shot him a confused look and James knew that he was wondering what James had been doing with the new girl. "I ran into her outside Dumbledore's office."

"Why was she in there?" Peter asked. "Was she in trouble?"

"No," James said, trying to pile as much bacon on his plate as he could. "She said she just needed to talk to him about something."

Remus and Peter shared a confused look. "Did she say why?" Remus asked. He, like James, had never heard of Dumbledore talking to students about their personal problems. While the headmaster had always insisted that he was there for Remus talk to about his furry little problem, Remus had never taken him up on the offer.

"I guess Voldemort attacked her whole family less than a month ago," he said. "She wasn't really sharing though." This caused Sirius to look down at the girl sitting by herself at the end of the table. He had to admit that he felt a little ashamed for how he had treated her after hearing that.

"What took you so long?" Peter asked. James had gone back to the common room to grab his Transfiguration book.

"We ran into Snape," James said darkly. Sirius whipped around to look back at James so fast that his neck cracked. Snape was good at skulking around in empty corridors and Sirius knew that he better not be up to anything or else he was going to pay.

"What happened?" Peter asked, starting to get excited now. As weird as it sounded, he enjoyed watching James and Sirius take on Snape.

"Erica hexed him, actually," James said, starting to eat his breakfast as fast as he could. "I don't know why but she really seems to hate him."

"Good on her," Peter said. Sirius turned around to look at her again. He couldn't believe that he actually felt bad about the way he had treated her before. Sirius Black did not feel remorse, especially not for random strangers. At that moment, Erica looked up and caught his eye. He had never seen eyes that shade before, they were such a piercing dark green that it almost felt like she was looking right through him. She shot him a confused look but he just glared at her and turned back to his friends. He still felt like there was something wrong with her, something that she was hiding from everyone and he was determined to find out what it was.

"Where were you this morning?" Lily asked as Erica sat down next to her in the Transfiguration classroom.

"I had to talk to Dumbledore about something," Erica said.

"Oh," Lily said. "Are you feeling better this morning?"

"Yeah," Erica said, feeling a little sheepish about how she had acted last night. "Thanks, by the way, for being there."

Lily smiled at her. "It was no problem."

"Hullo Evans," they heard someone say from behind them. Lily groaned but refused to turn around while Erica tried not to laugh. "Hullo new girl," the voice said again.

Erica turned around and smiled. "Hi James." She heard Lily sigh and she quickly turned around. She liked James Potter but she didn't want to make Lily angry.

Professor McGonnagal started the class then and wanted them to perform nonverbal vanishing spells. Erica smiled at this; she had already mastered nonverbal spells and was the first one to make the mouse in front of her vanish. "Well done, Miss Costello. Ten points to Gryffindor," Professor McGonnagal said before placing another mouse in front of her.

Once class was over, she gathered her things and walked out with Lily. "What's up with you and Potter?" Lily asked.

"What do you mean?" Erica said, confused.

"Well, are you friends or something?" Lily said, trying not to sound disgusted.

"I guess," Erica shrugged. "He's a nice guy."

Lily actually snorted at that. "No he's not. He's a conceited, bullying toerag."

Erica looked back and saw James and his friends walking down the hallway in the other direction. She had only known James for three days but she didn't think he was conceited.

"Who does he bully?" Erica asked curiously.

"Snape," Lily said. Erica rolled her eyes at this. Honestly, she thought Snape deserved to be bullied. She knew she was only judging him on things he hadn't done yet but that didn't matter to her. "And anyone that he thinks is inferior to him."

"Oh," Erica said, quietly. She parted ways with Lily, heading out to the grounds while Lily headed off to Ancient Runes. She sat down by the lake, under a beech tree, and started her Transfiguration essay.

She had been there for a while when she heard someone walking up behind her. She turned and saw a livid Snape marching towards her. She tried to jump up and grab her wand at the same time but he was too fast for her. "_Expelliarmus_!" he practically shouted. Erica stood there, completely defenseless without her wand, while Snape glared at her. "You know," he said quietly, "I missed my first period class because of you."

Erica snorted at this. "Oh, did no one find you in time? What a shame," she said, sounding completely insincere.

Snape glared at her for a few minutes before saying, "Costello… I've never heard that name before. That must mean you're a mudblood."

Erica actually laughed at this. "Don't tell me you're under the delusion that you know every pureblood in the world."

He frowned at this. "I know a mudblood when I see one."

Erica crossed her arms. She was really starting to get bored with this. "Look, are you going to do anything? Because believe me, I have better things to do than chat about my bloodline with you."

Snape glared at her again. "You want me to do something? Fine… _Levicorpus_!" He had used a curse that Erica had never heard of. It felt as if a rope had been tied around her ankle and then pulled her up in the air. She was holding her skirt down, hoping desperately that Snape hadn't seen her knickers.

"Put me down!" she said angrily.

"Not until you learn your place," Snape sneered.

"Aw Snivellus, you didn't have to go to all this trouble to let me know that I was above you," Erica said sarcastically.

Snape looked even angrier at that. He opened his mouth, probably to hex her into oblivion, when they both heard someone yell "OY!" Snape whipped around, causing Erica to fall to the ground. "_Expelliarmus_!" she heard someone else yell. She looked up and saw that it was James Potter and Sirius Black.

Snape had cast a shield charm and sent a curse at James that cut him deeply on the cheek. Sirius cast the bat bogey hex but Snape quickly dodged it. Erica hated to admit it but he was a good dueler. She saw that he was about to send another curse at Sirius. She wasn't sure what came over her but she had thrown herself at Snape and managed to tackle him. The two wands fell out of his hand and instead of snatching them, she started punching him as hard as she could. She felt a strong pair of arms pulling her off of him after she had only thrown a couple punches and she actually found herself struggling against whoever had her. Erica normally wasn't a violent person but it felt as if something inside her had snapped. This was the professor that had made her best friend cry in second year, the one who had taken one hundred points from Gryffindor when her potion had accidently exploded last year, and the one who had not only killed Professor Dumbledore but then had fled before anyone could do anything to him. To be quite honest, it felt nice to actually be able to get back at him.

"Hey, hey," she heard James saying, "Calm down." He must have been the one that had pulled her off of him. She turned and saw that Sirius had used the same curse on Snape that he had used on her. Snape was hanging in the air by his ankle.

She stopped struggling and James finally let go of her. She picked her wand up off the ground. When she looked back at Snape, she saw that practically the whole top his face was covered in the blood that was flowing freely from his nose. She sighed and said, "Let him down, Black."

"What?" he said, looking at her in complete shock.

"Just let him down!" she said.

He scowled and turned back to Snape. "If you so much as bother her again, Snivellus, I will make sure you wish you had never been born." Erica was very confused by this. Why was the boy who had made it clear to her in no uncertain terms that he thought she was a liar that wasn't worth his time defending her? Sirius unceremoniously dropped Snape and he got up and stalked off.

"Are you alright?" James asked her.

"Yes, I'm fine," Erica said, feeling a little ashamed of herself. Normally she could hold her own in a duel but Snape had surprised her.

"What happened?" Sirius asked.

"He snuck up on me. I guess he was a little sore about this morning," Erica said. "Apparently it took someone so long to find him that he missed his first class."

James sniggered at this. "Serves him right, the git." Then he turned to Erica and said, "Nice right hook."

Erica smiled. "Thanks"

"That was really stupid, you know," Sirius said quietly. Erica looked at him in confusion and he continued, "Throwing yourself at him like that. You're lucky you managed to knock the wands out of his hand or he would have really jinxed you."

"He was about to hex you," Erica said indignantly.

This only seemed to make Sirius angry. "I can take care of myself, you know."

"Tosser," she muttered as she turned and headed up towards the castle.

"Oy, new girl!" she heard Black call from behind her. She turned around and saw him grinning mischievously and she suddenly found it hard to stand up, her knees felt so weak. Sirius Black might have been a tosser but he was absolutely gorgeous, especially when he smiled like that. Of course, this thought had flown out of her head once he said, "Nice knickers."

She felt herself blush a dark shade of red that went all the way down her neck. She quickly turned around and hurried up to the castle for Arithmancy. She heard his loud bark of laughter and she blushed even more. "Prat," she muttered.

Erica had been writing an essay for Charms when Jenn came up behind her. "Hey," she said, sitting down across from Erica. "So, you're really good at nonverbal spells."

Erica blushed. Truth be told, it had taken her almost a month to master nonverbal spells. "Yeah I guess," she said. "They're pretty difficult."

Jenn raised an eyebrow at this. "But you got it on the first try."

"Honestly, my tutor had been teaching them to me for about a month before I had to come here," Erica grinned sheepishly.

"Do you think you could help me with them?" Jenn asked. "I'd ask Lily but she has prefect duties."

"Sure," Erica said, pushing her essay away. "The hardest part is not muttering the spell when you cast it. I found that if I concentrated really hard on keeping my mouth shut while also focusing on the spell I wanted to cast, I could do it."

Jenn grabbed a quill from her bag and was trying to make it fly without saying the incantation. They had been working for almost an hour when Jenn almost got it, only muttering the end of the charm. She groaned in frustration. "I'm never going to get it!"

Erica smiled at her and said, "You're doing a lot better than I did on my first day. My tutor actually had to use the silencing charm before I got it."

Jenn laughed at this. "Thanks," she said, turning back to the quill. She looked up and smirked. "Sirius Black is staring at you."

Erica groaned. "He's not trying to a glare a hole into the back of my head again, is he?"

"No, actually," Jenn said. Erica turned and saw that he was indeed staring at her, but not as he usually did in contempt. Instead he was looking at her as if she were some kind of puzzle that he was determined to put together. She felt her face growing hot and turned back around, but not before she noticed his trademark smirk. Jenn looked at her in confusion. "What was that about?"

Erica had been determined not to tell anyone about that morning down by the lake, but when she saw Jenn looking at her in curious interest she knew that she wouldn't be able to get away with not saying anything. She sighed in resignation and muttered, "He saw my knickers earlier."

"What?" Jenn said, quite loudly.

"Jenn," Erica said, looking around and feeling quite alarmed. She hadn't really expected that kind of reaction. She noticed that the people sitting at the tables near them were looking at them curiously.

Jenn looked at Erica expectantly and frowned when she realized that Erica wasn't going to say anything else. "Come on, Costello. You can't say something like that and not explain yourself."

"Alright," Erica said quietly. "I'll tell you up in the dorm." She packed her things and then headed up to the dormitory with Jenn following close behind.

Once they were both sitting on Erica's bed, she recounted the morning by the lake. Jenn was grinning by the time she had finished. "It figures," she said. "Sirius Black is quite good at flustering girls."

"It's only because he looks like that," Erica said darkly. "I'm sure it has nothing to do with his personality, the wanker."

Jenn giggled. "You sound Lily when she's ranting on about James."

Erica smiled and asked, "Is he really as bad as she makes him out to be?"

Jenn laughed again. "No. I mean, he used to be but ever since their big blow out down by the lake last spring he's toned it down a little. He does still give Snape a really hard time though. I think that might be why Lily's always so upset with him."

Erica tried really hard not to roll her eyes at this. In her opinion, James was giving Snape exactly what he deserved. She was about to ask Jenn about the row between Lily and James when the door to the dormitory opened and Cassidy Wilson, one of her other dorm mates, walked in. Cassidy was absolutely gorgeous in every sense of the word. She had long, wavy light brown hair that went down to the middle of her back and dark blue eyes. She somehow managed to be both very petite and yet curvy at the same time and she held herself with an air of confidence that Erica was sure wasn't normal for a sixteen year old girl. "Hi," she said, walking up to Erica's bed with a forced smile on her face. "You're Erica, right?"

"Yeah," Erica smiled. "Nice to meet you."

Cassidy pursed her lips but didn't say anything to this. Apparently whatever it was that she had to say was much too important for simple niceties. "Look, I just wanted to warn you about Sirius Black."

Erica was definitely confused. "What about him?"

"He's an awful boyfriend. All he cares about is his friends and once he gets what wants from you, he'll simply throw you away so you might want to stay away from him," she said.

Erica actually laughed at this. "Oh believe me, I won't be dating him anytime soon."

"Good," Cassidy said, clearly satisfied with what Erica said. She turned and left the dorm without another word.

"What a cow," Jenn said. "She dates Sirius for five months last year and she thinks she knows everything about him. I can't believe she actually told you to stay away from him!"

Erica laughed. "Yeah, hasn't she noticed the complete disdain that he holds for me?"

Jenn laughed. "I don't know… he didn't look full of disdain downstairs," she said slyly.

Erica grinned and said, "Shutup, Morrison."


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling.

A/N: I'm sorry it took me so long to get this chapter up. Apparently, graduating from college is quite the time suck. I don't know how often I'll be able to update this since I'm going to be so busy this summer… I'm moving and starting a new job and more school so… as much as I'd like to spend all my time writing in this, I'll probably be packing instead. But thank you all for your reviews and I hope you really like this chapter!!

**Chapter 5**

Erica found herself falling into a routine over the next few weeks. She had been able to push her emotions to the back of her mind, although there were still some nights when she cried herself to sleep. She always made sure to place a silencing charm on herself on those nights and if Lily or Jenn noticed anything, they didn't let on. She had been doing well in her classes, although she was starting to worry about how she would do once they started covering new material since she wasn't exactly the best student. Sirius Black hadn't been glaring at her nearly as much, although he did still manage to call her a liar whenever it was possible. Instead, she found that Cassidy Wilson and her friends had started glaring at her whenever they could. It seemed like Erica just couldn't win, so many people seemed to dislike her for reasons that were out of her control. She was, however, quickly becoming friends with James Potter, much to Lily's annoyance. She was even on friendly terms with Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew, and she often found herself doing homework in the library with at least one of them.

Soon it was the beginning of October. The Hogsmeade weekend was quickly approaching and it seemed like everything was in a complete upheaval. Erica was certain that the Hogwarts students of the 1990s were not nearly as hormone-crazed as those of the 1970s. Everyone had been caught up in the drama of who had asked who to Hogsmeade and who was upset about this and why. James had already asked Lily to go with him about three times and Cassidy Wilson had been stomping about the dorms for about a week now because no one had yet asked her.

That was why Erica was currently hiding out in the library. She was actually thankful for the quiet, since Lily had spent the last three nights ranting loudly about James Potter and she had a Potions essay to write. She was finally almost finished it when she heard someone whisper, "Hey new girl." She looked up and saw James Potter standing before her with a frightened second year.

Erica raised an eyebrow and said, "Tutoring?"

"Unfortunately," James said. "McGonnagal seems to think it's a proper punishment for removing Snape's hair." Erica laughed at this but didn't say anything. "Do you mind if we sit here?"

"No," Erica said. She turned back to her essay and tried to tune out James and the second year. Once she was done, she was started packing up her things.

"Hey," James said, right before she got up from the table. "Are you going into Hogsmeade with Lily and Jenn this weekend?"

Erica looked at him suspiciously. "Why?"

"Well, I was just wondering," James said, looking quite embarrassed. He reached up and started to run his hand through his hair, making it look as if he had just gotten off his broom.

"No," Erica smirked, "I can't go into Hogsmeade."

James straightened up at this. "Why can't you?"

Erica shrugged. "No signed permission slip. And Dumbledore doesn't think I should, he said it's too dangerous."

James got a mischievous glint in his eye and said, "I'll see you later, alright?"

"Alright," she said, looking a little apprehensive. She might have only known James for a month but she knew that nothing good could come from whatever it was he was planning. She was halfway to Gryffindor Tower when she walked right into someone, causing her to fall backwards and drop her things all over the floor. "I'm so sorry," she said, quickly getting up and grabbing her things. "I wasn't really watching where I was going."

"That's obvious," she heard Sirius Black say.

She looked up quickly and frowned. She wouldn't have apologized if she had known it was Sirius that she had bumped into. He stood there, watching her collect her things and Erica felt herself growing very annoyed. Most people would help someone, but not the great Sirius Black. Apparently he was above being polite. Finally, Erica couldn't take it anymore. She looked up at him and said, "Are you just going to stand there with that stupid look on your face or are you going to help me?"

"Only if you say please," Sirius said, smirking.

"Ugh!" Erica said in frustration. "Go throw yourself off the Astronomy Tower, Black."

He laughed, "That didn't sound like a please to me." But he still knelt down and started grabbing her things. When he handed her some of her papers, their hands brushed against each other and Erica felt her face growing hot. If she could have cursed herself at that point, she would have. Sirius Black might have been attractive but he was a git and Erica just couldn't seem to get her body to understand that. "You blush a lot," he said softly.

"I've noticed," she said harshly. She shoved the last of her things into her bag and started walking away.

"Especially around me," Sirius said, catching up to her easily. He still had that infuriating smirk on his face. "And while I'm flattered, I think I should let you know that –"

Erica scowled and interrupted him. "Don't make me sick."

"Well," he said, giving her that infuriating smirk again. "From all that evidence, I can only assume one thing…"

They had reached the portrait hole. Erica turned and glared at him, trying her hardest not to look into his eyes. She knew she'd be lost the second she looked into his dark grey eyes, no matter how much she hated it. "Well, you know what they say about people who assume things."

"What do they say?" he asked, looking very confused.

Erica couldn't help noticing how attractive he was when he didn't have his trademark arrogant grin on his face. Then she felt like slapping herself for even thinking that. She smirked and said, "They make complete asses out of themselves." She knew that if she stayed around him any longer, she would do something make him hate her even more so she turned around quickly and gave the Fat Lady the password. She practically ran through the portrait hole and tried to rush up to the girls' dormitory to get as far away from Sirius Black as she could. But she heard a loud squeal and then felt someone jump on her, which effectively stopped her escape. "Erica!" Jen said. "You'll never guess what just happened!"

"What?" Erica laughed.

Jenn grabbed Erica's wrist and led her over to a couch where Lily was laughing at her blonde-haired friend. "Lily and I are going on a double date!"

Erica smirked and raised an eyebrow. "Together? And who's the other couple?"

"Oh, haha," Jenn said sarcastically. "Amos Diggory just asked Lily to go with him and he and Abraham are good friends." Abraham Kennedy had asked Jenn to go with him weeks ago.

"That's great," Erica said, her smile faltering slightly. She couldn't help but remember that the last time she had seen Amos Diggory was when he had been crying hysterically over the body of his dead son at the end of the Triwizard Tournament. "Who is Amos Diggory?"

Jenn laughed at that. "He is a gorgeous seventh year Hufflepuff. I'll point him out to you at breakfast tomorrow." With that, she drifted off to a seventh year girl whose name Erica couldn't remember and started up a conversation on certain magical hair products.

Erica sat down next to Lily. "Congratulations, I guess."

Lily laughed. "Thanks, I guess."

"You don't seem too excited about your date," Erica said, confused.

"I'm really not, to be honest with you. I probably wouldn't have even said yes to Amos if Jenn hadn't been there. The second he asked, she started getting all excited over this double date thing," Lily said, sounding a little exasperated.

"Oh, poor Lily," Erica said sarcastically. "She has to go on a date with a good looking bloke! I pity you, I really do."

"Shut up," Lily laughed. She grabbed a pillow off the couch and threw it at Erica. "I wish you could come to Hogsmeade with us."

"Me too," Erica sighed. She had really wanted to see the Hogsmeade of the 1970s. The last time she had been to Hogsmeade, half of the stores had been closed and then the trips had been banned altogether.

They talked about the Potions essay that was due the next day until James came up behind them. "Alright, Evans?" Lily made a face but didn't even bother answering. "You know, there's still time to agree to go to Hogsmeade with me."

Lily got a cruel smile on her face and said, "I'm afraid not, Potter. I've already got a date to Hogsmeade." With that, she got up and went up to the girls' dormitory, leaving James sputtering behind her.

"Date?!" he said, turning to Erica. "Who in the world is she going on a date with?!"

"Amos Diggory," Erica smirked.

"That brainless git?" James scowled. "What does she see in him, anyways?"

Erica just shrugged. "Did you want something?"

"Huh?" James said, confused for a second. Obviously Lily's date had driven all other thoughts from his mind. "Oh, right. We wanted to talk to you."

Erica knew that by 'we' he had meant the marauders. She followed him over to the side of the common room that the marauders had claimed as their own. It was in the far corner by a large window and there were two small couches along with two comfortable chairs. Remus and Peter were already seated in the chairs and Sirius was sitting on one of the couches, looking extremely put out about something. Erica sat on the opposite couch and looked at the four boys in curiosity. "We've made a decision," James said, smiling slightly at her as he sat down next to Sirius.

"Oh?" Erica said, feeling slightly uncomfortable under Black's glare. She was starting to feel like she had stepped into _The Godfather_.

"You're coming into Hogsmeade with us," James said.

"I can't go into Hogsmeade," Erica said, confused. "I told you, I don't have a signed slip."

"Well, that settles that," Sirius said, getting up. "Too bad, Prongs. It looks like your awful idea won't work."

James rolled his eyes and pulled Sirius back on to the couch. "We have a way of getting you into Hogsmeade without a signed permission slip."

"I don't know," Erica said. "Dumbledore said – "

"_Dumbledore said_," Sirius said in a high voice, mocking her. "Come on, James. She's obviously too scared – "

"I'll do it," Erica said, interrupting him. She knew that he was going to call her a coward and she was **not** a coward. But then he gave her that arrogant smirk again and she began to wonder if she had done exactly what he wanted her to do.

"Good," James said, smiling at her. "Meet me here Saturday morning after breakfast." Erica knew that she was being dismissed so she got up and went back to the other side of the common room.

"What was that about?" Jenn asked curiously, looking over at the Marauders talking animatedly about something.

"Honestly, I have no idea," Erica said, grabbing her things and heading up to her dormitory. To say she was confused was an understatement. She had heard rumors of Harry Potter sneaking into Hogsmeade and now it seemed that she was about to find out how he had done it, even though she was perfectly content with staying in the castle. And why did she feel like Sirius had manipulated her into doing it? Why would he do that, anyways? It wasn't like he was going to be there. She had heard enough about him to know that he probably had at least two dates lined up for Hogsmeade. So why would he even care if she snuck into Hogsmeade with his friends? She sighed as she closed the curtains around her bed. It was entirely too early to go to bed but with her head so full of Sirius Black, she didn't think she was fit to be around anyone.

--

The rest of the week went by in a blur and before Erica knew it, she was waking up to a gorgeous Saturday morning. The sun was out already and there weren't any clouds in the sky. It seemed like the warm weather was trying to hold on for as long as it possibly could.

Suddenly, she heard the arguing that must have been what had woken her up in the first place. "No, Lily, you can't cancel on him now!" Jenn said, sounding horrified.

Erica sat up and peeked out of her bed curtains. Jenn was staring at Lily angrily while Lily sat on her bed, looking very conflicted. "But I don't even like him, Jenn! Wouldn't I just be leading him on if I go with him?"

"Merlin, Lily! It's not like he wants to have some kind of serious relationship with you! He just wants to take you to Madam Puddifoot's. It's not like you have to marry him there," Jenn said.

"What's going on?" Erica said, getting out of her bed.

"Lily wants to stand Amos Diggory up! Amos Diggory!" Jenn said shrilly, her expression conveying that standing Amos Diggory up was just not done.

"Why?" Erica said, turning to Lily.

"I just… it doesn't feel right with him, you know?" Lily said, sounding desperate now. "What's the point in going on this date with him if I know there won't be a second?"

"How do you know that?" Jenn said, looking at Lily wide-eyed. "How can you know that if you won't even give him a chance?"

"I just know, Jenn," Lily said, starting to look a little annoyed. "I wouldn't have even said yes to him if you hadn't made me!" Jenn scowled at this. She didn't say anything; she just stormed into the bathroom and slammed the door, waking up everyone else in the dormitory. Lily frowned, "I don't understand why she's getting so upset about this."

"I think she was just looking forward to doing the whole double date thing," Erica said. "Do you guys do that a lot?"

"No," Lily said. "This would be the first time."

"Oh," Erica said. "Maybe that's why she's so upset."

Lily frowned. "It's completely unreasonable, though! Her and I could just go into Hogsmeade together without them."

"I don't think that's the point," Erica shrugged. "Maybe you could have fun with Amos today, even if it can't go anywhere."

"I don't know," Lily said. "Do you think I should?'

Erica shrugged again. "I think James Potter will spend the whole day following you around if you don't."

Lily had a dark look on her face as she said, "He'll probably do that anyways."

Erica laughed. "Well, I guess I could try to stop him from doing that if you wanted…"

Lily looked at her. "What do you mean?" Lily asked. "I thought you couldn't go to Hogsmeade because you didn't have a signed slip."

"Well, technically, I don't," Erica said. She hadn't yet told Lily and Jenn about James's plan to sneak her in. She knew Lily would be upset about it but she also knew she couldn't exactly keep it from her since there was a good chance they would see each other there. "But James said there was a way he could get me there anyways."

"And you're actually going along with this?" Lily said, suddenly very angry.

"Well, yeah," Erica said. She knew Lily would be angry but she didn't think she would be this angry. "I mean, I doubt he can even get me there but I thought I should try. I've heard so much about Hogsmeade and I really wanted to see it."

"Well, I don't think it's a good idea," Lily said, "but if you can keep him away from me, that would be great. I can only imagine what he'd do to try and ruin my date."

Erica grinned. "So your date is still on?"

"I guess so," Lily sighed. At that moment, Jenn walked out of the bathroom still looking extremely upset. Lily turned to her and said, "If you still want me to do this, you're going to have to help me pick out what to wear."

Jenn got a huge smile on her face and ran over to Lily's trunk. "Thanks, Lily! This is going to be so much fun," she said, as she started going through Lily's clothes.

Erica smiled at her two friends before getting ready for the day. Lily had taken that a lot better than Erica had expected but now she had the daunting task of keeping James away from her. Once she was ready, she had completely missed breakfast and just went down to the common room to meet James. She found him standing against the wall near the portrait hole, nervously running his hand through his hair. "Hey new girl," he said, smiling when he saw her. "You still want to do this, right?"

"Of course," Erica said. There was no way she was going to back down now.

James smiled at her. "Good," he said. "Come on." He led her to a statute of a one-eyed, hump backed witch and then looked around, making sure that they were the only people in the corridor. Then he tapped the statute on its back and whispered something Erica couldn't hear. To her surprise, the hump on the witch's back moved until a small hole appeared. "Ladies first," James said, gesturing towards the hole.

Erica looked dubiously at the hole in the witch's back. Suddenly, she was not so sure about this. How did she know he wasn't trying to play a prank on her? Maybe that was why Sirius had been so eager to get her to agree to this; they were planning on sticking her in a hole for a couple hours… or days. "I don't know," she said, still eyeing it warily. "Is it safe?"

James watched her in amusement. "Of course it is," he said. "We've been using it for years."

Erica climbed up and then turned to look back at him. "If you lock me down here, I swear I will castrate you in the most painful way possible."

"Alright," James laughed. "Just go."

Erica lowered herself into the hole and found herself going down a slide. Once she hit the ground, she moved quickly out of the way because James was right behind her. "So, what now?" she asked once James had come down the slide behind her.

He stood up and brushed the dirt off his jeans. "Now, we walk." He lit his wand and led the way down the tunnel.

"How did you even find this?" Erica said, looking around the tunnel.

"You don't want to know," James said darkly. "Let's just say it wasn't the marauders' finest hour."

Erica looked at him curiously but didn't say anything. They walked in silence until James couldn't take it anymore. He had been wanting to ask her about Lily and her supposed date ever since he saw Lily walking down to the Entrance Hall, looking more beautiful than ever. "So…" he said, trying not to sound too curious, "is Lily still going on a date with Diggory?" He said the name as if it were a curse.

"Yeah," Erica said, feeling slightly uncomfortable. "Actually, she didn't want to go but… I probably shouldn't be talking to you about it."

"Probably not," James said sadly, looking down at his trainers.

"You do realize that you'd have a better shot with her if you didn't harass her so much, right?" Erica asked.

"I don't need your advice," James said, sounding a little too defensive.

Erica smirked. She knew she shouldn't push it but she couldn't stop herself. "Do you do it because she's the only girl who'll say no to you or do you actually like her?"

"She's not the only girl who'd say no to me," James said defiantly.

Erica had to laugh at that. She might have only been at Hogwarts for a month but she knew that wasn't true. "Name one," she said.

"I could name about fifty girls from Slytherin who would rather eat dragon dung than go on a date with me," James said, giving her a grin that clearly said '_So there._'

"Slytherins don't count," Erica said, frustrated.

"That's what I've always thought," James grinned. He was silent for a moment and then said, "Amanda Slater turned me down in second year. She claimed she was too old for me but I still don't think a five year age difference is that big of a deal."

Erica stopped walking and glared at him. "Seriously, Potter."

He groaned, "Give it up, new girl. I know this is your first time socializing with people your own age and all, but could you please turn the psychoanalysis on someone else?"

"Sorry," Erica muttered, her cheeks flushing with embarrassment.

"Don't worry about it," James smiled.

At that moment, they reached what appeared to be hundreds of stairs leading out of the tunnel. "Where does this go?" Erica said, gesturing towards the stairs.

"The basement of Honeydukes," James said, leading the way up the stairs. Once they had reached the top, he pulled something out of his pocket then. "We're going to have to wear this or old Flume will accuse me of stealing from him again."

Erica was slightly taken back from hearing about Mr. Flume. He had owned Honeydukes in her time as well. It shouldn't really surprise her anymore, hearing about people she knew in her time, but it still sent a shock through her when she heard their names. "What is that?" she asked, trying to distract herself.

James grinned and looked down at the silvery material in his hand proudly. "It's an invisibility cloak," he said. "It's been in my family for ages." Erica stared at it in amazement. So that's how Harry Potter had been sneaking around the castle at night! It was another quality he seemed to pick up from his father. James just smiled at her reaction and threw the cloak over them and said, "We better get going. The guys are waiting for us at The Three Broomsticks."


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer:** Harry Potter belongs to J. K. Rowling. I've tried kidnapping him but all attempts have failed.

**A/N:** Thank you to Someone aka Me and Sam for the reviews on the last chapter! Here is the next chapter. Like I said before, I don't know if I'll be able to update this again before my big move, although I will definitely try for it. And please review!! There are quite a few people who have put this story on their alerts list and yet I'm only averaging two reviews per chapter… so if you like this story, tell me! Think there are ways I can make it better? Tell me! Hate it and wish that my laptop will explode so that I could never write another word for this thing? Tell me! 

**Chapter 6**

Once they had snuck out of the Honeydukes basement, Erica couldn't help but be amazed at how Hogsmeade looked exactly as it did in her time, well, before Voldemort had returned anyways. It's not like she had expected it to be completely different but there were the same shops being run by the same people. The only difference was the customers.

James noticed the look of amazement on her face and grinned. "Pretty nice, eh?"

Erica smirked as she shrugged. "It's alright."

James laughed and grabbed her arm. "Come on," he said, leading her to the Three Broomsticks. "You have to have a butterbeer." Erica couldn't stop the wide grin that spread across her face. She loved butterbeer and hadn't been able to have one for over a year. She followed him into the pub but had to stifle a groan when she saw who was waiting for them. "I'll get the drinks," James said. "Go sit with Sirius and Peter."

Erica frowned and made her way over to the table in the corner. "Hi," she said, directing her smile only to Peter. "Where's Remus?"

"Oh, uh, he's not feeling well," Peter said. "He decided to go to the Hospital Wing instead."

"Is he alright?" Erica asked, concerned. She might not have been close with the Remus Lupin of the 1970s but she had cared enough about her professor to be concerned for his wellbeing.

"I'm sure he'll be fine in a few days." Then Peter quickly, and obviously, tried to change the subject by saying, "What do you think of Hogsmeade?"

Erica tried to hide her look of realization. She was almost certain that it was a full moon that night, which meant that Remus Lupin was already a werewolf. Apparently, she wasn't successful because Sirius threw her a sharp look. She brought her long hair out in front of her shoulder, hiding her face from Sirius and said, "Well, I haven't seen much of it yet but it is pretty amazing."

"Where have you gone so far?" Peter asked curiously.

"We came straight here from Honeydukes," Erica said.

"Oh, you have to go to Zonko's after this!" Peter said, sounding very excited. "They have the best stuff there! And the Post Office is pretty great too…"

Erica smiled at Peter before tuning him out. She knew how great all of those places were, and she couldn't wait to see them all again after so long, but at that moment she was worried that her realization about Remus had given away a little too much. She peeked at Sirius and saw that he was staring at her intensely. She looked away quickly, mentally cursing the blush that rose on her cheeks. She didn't know how he did it. Even though it sounded completely ridiculous, there was a part of her that felt like he could almost read her thoughts when he looked at her like that. She then heard Peter mention taking her to the Shrieking Shack and she said, "I don't know, that place sounds creepy. Jenn said it was the most haunted building in Britain."

Peter and Sirius shared an amused look. "It's not that bad," Peter said.

"Right," Erica said sarcastically. The violent spirits she heard so much about had supposedly deserted the house in her time and yet it still gave her the creeps. Frankly, she wasn't that interested in seeing if they were there now. "I'm still not going there."

Peter gaped at her. "But you have to! We'll forcibly drag you if we have to, right Sirius?"

Sirius shrugged. "If she's too scared to go then I guess she doesn't have to go."

Erica scowled. If he really thought he could manipulate her that way twice in one week, he was sadly mistaken. "Looks like you'll be going there without me, Pete," she said, smiling victoriously at him.

Peter frowned. "James will help me," he muttered.

"Help you with that?" James said, coming up to the table with four bottles of butterbeer.

"She refuses to go to the Shrieking Shack!" Peter exclaimed, sounding as if this were some grave offense.

"Why?" he said, handing Erica an open bottle of butterbeer.

"It's creepy," she said simply.

James grinned mischieveously. "And that's why you have to go!" When Erica gave him a wary look, he laughed and said, "Don't tell you're afraid of ghosts!"

"I am afraid of them when they're apparently very angry and extremely violent," Erica said.

"And what _people_ did you hear this from?" Sirius said, smirking at her.

Erica stared at him angrily and was about to say something when she heard something that sounded suspiciously like a shoe meeting someone's flesh. She was able to deduce from Sirius's wince that someone had kicked him under the table, although she wasn't sure who. She smiled saucily at him before taking a sip of her butterbeer. It was only until she saw James and Peter looking at her expectantly that she realized that was supposed to be her first butterbeer. "Wow," she said. "This stuff is great." The three boys laughed and then Sirius mentioned to James that there was a new product at Zonko's, effectively getting the attention off of her. Erica was surprised that they had been satisfied with her reaction. She must have been getting better at this lying stuff, although she wasn't exactly sure if that was a good thing or not.

James, Peter and Sirius started going on about an elaborate prank that they wanted to pull on Snape and Erica tuned them out, deciding that this was something she didn't really need to know. She took the time to look around The Three Broomsticks, noticing how very similar it was to her time. Madam Rosmerta was behind the counter, filling orders for the patrons. The only difference Erica could see was that she looked younger and had longer hair. Even the customers looked the same, from the Hogwarts students to the shady warlocks who seemed to enjoy drinking their firewhiskey in dark corners. It was as she was admiring the pub that she noticed Hagrid, the gameskeeper and one-day professor, walk into the pub. "Shit!" she said, sliding out of her chair and under the table as quickly as she could. It was childish but she had to hide; she couldn't let Hagrid see her.

"What the fuck?" James said, very confused. He grabbed for Erica's arm, probably trying to pull her back up into her chair but she quickly evaded him. Unforunately, she had thrown herself right against Sirius's legs.

"Shit!" she said, in pain, at the same time Sirius swore under his breath.

He looked under the table and said, "What in the name of Merlin are you doing?"

Erica smacked his leg. "Get back up there!"

"Why?" he asked, clearly confused.

"You're too damn obvious, Black!" she said, getting agitated. "No one can know I'm here!"

"Erica, no one cares if you're there," he said, trying to hold back a laugh.

He still wasn't sitting up so Erica decided to take matters into her own hands. She grabbed him by the arm and pulled him under the table. "How could you not notice that Hagrid just walked in?" she asked.

He gave her a look that conveyed the fact that he thought she was crazy. "So what? Hagrid doesn't care."

"Are you mad? Of course he cares," she said. Erica might not have known Hagrid all that well but anyone could see how unfailingly loyal he was to Albus Dumbledore. "And worse than that, he knows I'm not supposed to be here! He can't see me!" Erica suddenly got a panicked look on her face. She had been so excited about seeing Hogsmeade again that she hadn't really thought about Dumbledore's warnings. It was stupid to leave the castle. Not only was it stupid, but it was incredibly dangerous. The war with Voldemort was only getting worse, and the fact that she knew what would bring him down in six short years only made her a target. "I'm going to be in so much trouble," she said quietly to herself. More than that, Dumbledore was going to both angry **and** disappointed. "Shit," she said again, putting her head in her hands.

"Hey," Sirius said, alarmed by her reaction, "Calm down. Everything will alright. We can put the invisibility cloak on you and get you out of here without Hagrid seeing you, no problem. You can wear it all day if you want."

"No," she said. "You don't understand. I have to get back to the school."

"Alright," Sirius said, looking at her as if she had just grown another head. "I'll tell James." He got back up in his seat and Erica could hear him talking to James, but he was quickly back under the table with her. "Here," he said, passing the silvery cloak over to her. "Get it on and I'll take you back to Honeydukes, alright?"

"Why can't James take me?" Erica asked.

Sirius actually looked hurt by this. "I don't really feel like staying, but if you'd rather have James take you –"

"No, it's fine," Erica said, interrupting him. She threw the cloak over herself and said, "Let's go."

Sirius smiled at her and said, "Make sure no part of you shows when you crawl out from under the table." He got back up in his seat then. Erica frowned at him before realizing that he couldn't see her. She crawled out from the table as carefully as she could. When she stood up, she wasn't really sure what she should to let him know that she was there. She gently put her hand on his shoulder but pulled back quickly, both shocked and annoyed at the tingles that were running up her arm. Sirius nodded his head to let her know he understood and said goodbye to the other two boys.

Erica could tell that James and Peter were both confused by her actions. "Sorry guys," she said quietly, not wanting the people at the next table to hear her. She followed Sirius out the door and on to High Street.

"Are you sure you don't want to look around?" Sirius asked, still slightly confused by everything. "I mean, there's no way anyone will see you under that thing."

"No," Erica said quietly.

"Why did you even come?" he asked.

"I obviously wasn't thinking clearly when I agreed to this."

"So you didn't want to just waste our time?"

"No," Erica said vehemently. "I'm sorry that I did. I'm so glad that you guys did this for me but I shouldn't have come. Dumbledore said it was dangerous and I shouldn't have just blown that off the way I did."

"But why would it be dangerous, Erica?" Sirius asked.

"It just is," she said. "I can't tell you why. Dumbledore said that I can't tell anyone why."

"So are you going to let Dumbledore make all your decisions for you?" he asked, starting to get annoyed by her excuses of Dumbledore saying she couldn't do this or that. He had never known Dumbledore to get so involved in a student's life and he was having a hard time believing Erica. That feeling was back, nagging at him, telling him that there was just something off about this girl, something that she wasn't telling him.

"You don't understand," Erica said, starting to get defensive. She didn't understand why this guy couldn't just take things at face value. It's like he couldn't just let things stand, he had to dig and dig until he knew everything there was to know about everyone, even when it wasn't any of his business.

"Because you're not explaining it!" he said, his voice getting louder as he got more annoyed.

"You wouldn't believe me if I did!" Erica said, getting as loud as Sirius was. She had forgotten that people who are trying to be invisible should also be quiet. All of the other students in the street were watching Sirius, looking as if they thought he had finally snapped.

Sirius sighed in frustration. He smiled at a pair of fourth year Ravenclaws that were closest to him and then grabbed Erica as inconspicuously as possible and led her off onto one of the deserted side streets. "Try me," he said.

He sounded so intense and the look he was giving her (or what he thought was her, he was actually looking about six inches to the left of her face) made Erica want to open up about everything. Almost. The fact that she had already betrayed enough of Dumbledore's trust that day stopped her, though, and that was definitely a good thing. "I just… I know certain things," she said softly. "I know things that other people would want to know, badly. And these people… they'll do anything to find out what it is. And putting myself out in the open like this where they could easily find me was just really stupid."

"And these people that want to know are?" Sirius asked. His first instinct was disbelief but the obvious fear in her voice was convincing him that she was telling the truth.

"Voldemort," she said, the panic and fear in her voice growing. It was almost as if she thought simply saying his name would summon him to Hogsmeade.

Sirius scoffed at this. "And what could you possibly know about him that he would be willing to expose himself here, of all places, just to get to you?"

Erica sighed. "I can't tell you that."

"You're right," Sirius said, sounding very harsh. "I don't believe you."

Erica didn't know why but she couldn't stop the tears from falling then. She hadn't expected Sirius to believe her but, for some reason, she really wanted him to. And the fact that he didn't, that he still thought she was a liar, hurt her in a way she didn't think was possible. She leaned against the wall of some random building and tried to at least be quiet. Since Sirius couldn't see this little breakdown, maybe if she stayed quiet, he wouldn't know that he had gotten to her at all.

Sirius had been about to turn and walk back into the heavy traffic of Hogwarts students when he heard someone call his name. He turned and saw that Cassidy Wilson was staring at him from the narrow opening into the side street they were on. To say that he was fed up with Cassidy would be a massive understatement. He had dated her for a few months a year ago and now she just would not leave him alone. He was certain she thought that if she hounded him enough that he'd want to go out with her again but there was just something about her that rubbed him the wrong way. He could remember how superior she had acted when they had been going out. And she acted so strangely. She hadn't been interested in talking, which Sirius had been thankful for at first because he hadn't dated her for her conversation, but she hadn't really been interested in fooling around either. She was more into having people see them together than anything, which got on his nerves really fast. He swore under his breath and grabbed for Erica and the invisibility cloak. He quickly lifted it up and threw it over himself as well.

"What are you doing?" Erica asked shrilly.

He put his hand over her mouth and said lowly, "Just be quiet for a second."

Erica glared at him for a second before she realized that her cheeks were wet from the tears that were still falling. She quickly looked down at her feet, hoping that Sirius hadn't noticed anything. But her hopes were in vain because Sirius had noticed it and seeing the tears on her face made him feel like he had been punched in the gut. In that moment, he would have done anything to make her stop crying but he also didn't want to alert Cassidy to their presence. They both waited in silence as Cassidy walked down to where they were, looking for Sirius. She stood there, right in front of them, for a few minutes, muttering about how she could have sworn that he had been right there. When she was finally gone, Erica felt Sirius's hand cup the side of her face and tilt it upward so that she was looking at him. His thumb gently wiped away the tear tracks on her face as he asked, "Why are you crying?"

"I'm not," she said darkly, pulling her face out of his hand.

"Oh come on," he said. She looked like she was about to throw the cloak off of herself and leave, danger be damned, so he grabbed her arm and held her there. "Don't be like that."

"You don't know how hard it is," she said. She was getting really annoyed with Sirius now. He wanted all these answers from her and when she gave them to him, he was convinced that she was lying. She knew it sounded far-fetched but she didn't think she had ever acted in a way that would show that she shouldn't be trusted. "It sucks having this one secret that I can't tell anyone, even my friends, because it's so dangerous. And you know what, don't believe me, Sirius. I don't care. It's probably better if you don't."

"But why can't you tell anyone?" he asked, annoyed with her once again.

"Because Dumbledore –" she started to say but he interrupted her.

"You don't have to do everything that Dumbledore tells you to do, Erica!" he said. "You're a big girl, you can make your own decisions!"

"Right, I shouldn't listen to him," Erica said sarcastically. "I should go against the advice of the most brilliant wizard alive! And why wouldn't I want to go against my word to him, it's not like he hasn't done anything for me, right?'

Sirius groaned in frustration. "That's not what I meant! It's just… there are people here you can trust, other than Dumbledore."

"Like who?" Erica asked.

"James, for one, and Lily," Sirius said, holding up his hand and counting off on his fingers as he named them. "That Jenn girl you're always with. And me."

"You?" Erica said, laughing. "Right, because you've been so courteous and welcoming to me." He gave her a pointed look and she sighed. "I can't tell anyone, Sirius. It's dangerous for both me and them. And how do I actually know I can trust any of you? I've only known you for a little over a month. Besides, it's not like anyone is going to believe me anyways."

He frowned and said, "Well, I guess you'll never know that if you never tell them."

"How can I tell them?" she said, raising her voice. "I just tried telling you a little bit of it and you laughed at me! Why would I want to do that again?"

"I didn't laugh at you!" She gave him a look and he said, "Ok, maybe I did but I won't this time. You can trust me."

"Why should I trust someone that doesn't trust me? It seems kind of stupid, don't you think?" She shook her head then and said, "Whatever. It doesn't matter. Let's just go back to Honeydukes."

Sirius nodded but didn't move from under the cloak. She raised an eyebrow at him and he said, "What? I don't want to risk running into Cassidy."

They walked back onto High Street. "So you don't like Cassidy?" Erica asked quietly, trying to break the awkward tension between them.

"No," he said, firmly.

Erica laughed at that. "That's surprising."

"Why in the world would you say that?" It was clear that he was confused by her statement.

Erica shrugged, "I just figured you'd both bond over your mutual hatred of me."

Sirius actually smiled at that, the slightly crooked mischievous smile that always seemed to make her weak in the knees. "Ah yes, she doesn't seem to like you much, does she? But unfortunately, that one good quality is vastly overshadowed by her many bad qualities."

"You're such a jerk," Erica said, rolling her eyes.

"What?" he said, feigning innocence.

"Disliking me is a good quality, is it?" she asked.

He laughed and said, "Of course." They had reached Honeydukes by then and slipped in the door with a group of third year Slytherins. They snuck back into the basement and were soon back in the passageway leading back to Hogwarts, both lost in their thoughts about the other.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

Erica and Sirius awkwardly parted ways after they reached the castle, neither wanting to ruin the small truce they seemed to have reached. He took off towards the grounds while she rushed up to the dormitory, feeling too embarrassed to speak to anyone. She knew had overreacted but she also felt like she had definitely made the wrong decision in letting James sneak her out to Hogsmeade. She shouldn't have let Sirius goad her into agreeing with it, she shouldn't have let it go as far as it had, and she definitely shouldn't have reacted the way she had when she saw Hagrid walk into the pub. She just panicked. She didn't think she could face Dumbledore's disappointment if he had known she betrayed his trust. And what would happen if he decided that she was too irresponsible to be left on her own in the school? She didn't want to be hidden somewhere, completely isolated from the rest of the wizarding world. And, although she wouldn't say it out load, she would miss the few friends she had made here.

She had drawn the curtains around her bed, hoping that it would keep away the unwanted questioning of her dorm mates, and sat up against the headboard, hugging her knees. Her strategy seemed to be working well, too, considering the fact that she heard Jenn come in and then leave without talking to her. She knew she'd have to go and apologize to James for wasting his time like that but she just didn't think she could face him yet. It was almost as if the conversation she had had with Sirius had drained her of all desire to be social.

She had hidden away for hours when she heard the door to the dormitory open again. She tensed, hoping that no one had noticed her absence, when she heard Cassidy Wilson talking to Michelle Bertrude, a seventh year.

"It was so weird," Cassidy said. "It was like one minute he was there and the next he was gone. I must have just been seeing things, though. I can't imagine why he'd want to run away from me."

Erica found it hard to hold in a snort at that. Luckily, Michelle let out a high-pitched giggle at the same time. "Can you believe that Hestia Jones claimed she was going on a date with him?"

Cassidy laughed cruelly. "That stupid cow sat by herself in Madam Puddifoot's all day. I would have felt bad for her if she wasn't so delusional."

Michelle was quite for a moment and then asked softly, "Did you see James around at all?"

Cassidy sighed, "I saw him in Zonko's with Peter, but that's all."

"But he wasn't with Evans?" Michelle asked, and Erica couldn't help noticing the way she said Lily's name, as if she were spitting out a cuss word.

"No, she was actually on a date with Amos Diggory. Can you believe that?" They both laughed and then Cassidy continued, in a voice that was clearly supposed to be comforting, "I don't know, Michelle. I hate to say it but I don't think you have a chance with him."

"I know," she sighed. "If only he would get over Lily bloody Evans."

"But even if he did," Cassidy said, "I don't think he'd move on to you. He seems to have taken a liking to that new girl." Michelle sighed again, but didn't get a chance to reply because the dormitory door opened. "Oh, hi Lily!" Cassidy said brightly. "How was your date?"

Erica scoffed, she couldn't believe that Cassidy was being this nice to Lily after she had just been talking all that rubbish about her. "Fine," Lily said, and Erica could hear her moving across the room to her own bed.

"Come on," Michelle said quietly. "Let's go down to dinner."

Erica listened to their footsteps as they crossed the room, closing the door behind them when they left. It took a minute for their footsteps to fade away on the stairs, and then she practically jumped a foot off her bed as her curtains were ripped open. "I knew it," Lily smiled.

"What?" Erica asked.

"I knew you were hiding in here," she explained. "Potter's looking for you, by the way. He seemed worried." Erica bit her lip, trying to quickly come up with a lie big enough to explain the way she had acted earlier. "Actually, he must have been really worried because he didn't even bother asking me out when he told me to check and see if you were up here."

Erica grinned. "I hope you weren't too disappointed."

Lily laughed, "No, it was actually kind of nice." Erica smiled and got up to go downstairs. "Hey, where are you going?"

"To see James," Erica replied, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"Hang on," Lily said. "I haven't seen you all day. You have to tell me about Hogsmeade."

Erica sat back down and picked at some lint on her duvet cover. "Turns out it isn't all that it's cracked up to be."

"What happened?" Lily asked sympathetically. "Did he get you in trouble?"

"No," she said. "He snuck me into Hogsmeade but when we got to The Three Broomsticks, I saw Hagrid and kind of freaked out."

Lily couldn't help laughing at that. "Why?"

"He knows I'm not allowed outside the castle. And I knew that if he saw me, he would let Dumbledore know… and I don't want to upset Dumbledore. He's done so much for me in the past month. I don't think I could handle his disappointment."

Lily sat down next to her and said, "Well, it was kind of a stupid thing to do."

Erica let out a hard laugh. "Gee, don't hold back or anything, Lily." Lily shrugged instead of saying anything. "Anyways, then Sirius brought me back and I've been up here since."

Lily looked murderous as she stood up. "Did he say something to you? Is that why you've been hiding up here all day? I swear, I'll kill him!"

"No!" Erica said, shocked by Lily's outburst. She grabbed her arm and pulled her back onto the bed. "He was actually very civil." Lily frowned but didn't say anything. Erica knew it was stupid but this actually made her feel better. At least she would have Lily if James decided that she was a big liar. "So how was your date?" Erica asked. She hoped that changing the subject would lighten Lily's mood.

Lily groaned. "I am never going on any kind of double date with Jenn again."

Erica laughed. "That bad?"

"You know, I always thought Amos Diggory was alright but it turns out he's a giant prat."

"What happened?" Erica asked, curiously.

"Ugh, he couldn't keep his hands to himself. It was almost as if he thought I should feel lucky because he was manhandling me," Lily said darkly, her hands clenched into fists at the memory.

"Wanker," Erica said.

"Right? Anyways, I hexed him fifteen minutes into the date, and then came back here. I actually managed to finish my Potions essay," Lily said. "I hope Jenn isn't too upset with me."

"I'm sure she isn't," Erica said. "Wait a minute, you did homework?"

"Yeah," Lily answered, her cheeks turning red. "I always do homework when I'm upset. It calms me down."

"Oh," Erica replied, trying not to laugh. "That's not weird at all."

Lily chuckled and shoved Erica. "Go see what Potter wants."

"See you later," Erica said as she left the dormitory. She had the strangest feeling that she was walking to her execution. She really hoped James would still talk to her after this.

He must have been waiting because he jumped out at her the second she reached the common room. "There you are!" he said, grabbing her arm and pulling her into an isolated corner. "Where have you been?"

"I've been here," she said, shocked by his reaction. "Look, I'm –"

He interrupted her. "Sirius told me what you said earlier."

Erica blanched at that. "What?"

"Yeah," he said, lowering his voice so that it was barely more than a whisper. "All that stuff about Voldemort."

"Oh," she said, looking down at her shoes. She didn't think she could look him in the eye when he called her a liar. It was a little weird but she simply needed James to know she was telling the truth. It was bad enough that Sirius thought she was lying.

He studied her face for a moment and then asked, "So it's true then? He's really after you?"

"Yeah," she said, still refusing to meet his eyes.

"Shit," he said, shaking his head. "What were you thinking?"

Erica looked up in shock and saw only fear for her safety in his hazel eyes. "You believe me?"

"Of course I do," he said, looking a little confused. "You're my friend, why wouldn't I believe you?"

She couldn't explain what come over her then, but she threw her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly. "Thank you, James," she said, although her voice was slightly muffled by the way she had buried her face in his neck. "Thank you so much."

"Uh… you're welcome?" he said, sounding as if he thought she was completely nutty. He patted her awkwardly on the back before quickly breaking the embrace. "But really, what were you thinking?"

"What do you mean?" she asked, feeling her cheeks warm with embarrassment as she realized what she had just done.

"Going into Hogsmeade!" he replied in exasperation. "If Voldemort is after you then Dumbledore is right, you shouldn't leave Hogswart."

Erica shrugged, a little taken back by what he was saying. Since when did James Potter care about breaking the rules? "I don't know. I wanted to see Hogsmeade."

James rolled his eyes. "While I approve of your desire to break the rules, you really shouldn't do things that might get you killed."

"Alright," she said. "Sorry. I'll be more careful from now on."

"Good," he grinned. "Are you hungry?"

Erica nodded, surprised at how empty her stomach felt now that she wasn't worried about losing one of the closest friends she had in 1975. "Yeah, but dinner's over," she said sadly.

"Did you forget who you were talking to?" he smirked. "Come on."

She followed him out of the common room when something struck her. "Sirius didn't tell anyone else hat I said in Hogsmeade, did he?" James shook his head. "Good. You can't tell anyone either," she said. "Not even Remus and Peter, okay?"

"Alright," he said, although he didn't look too pleased at the fact that he would have to keep something from his best friends.

She bumped her shoulder against his and said, "Look, I'm sorry for wasting your time today."

He looked at her in exasperation. "You didn't waste my time!" She shot him a disbelieving look and he rolled his eyes. They had reached the painting of the bowl of fruit that would turn into the door to the kitchens, but James stood motionless outside it, not bothering to tickle the pear that would turn into a door handle. "I'm sure I'll find a way for you to make it up for me," he said with a mischievous smile and Erica knew that nothing good could come from this.

-----

Erica's new mission was to somehow get Lily Evans to go to the first Quidditch match of the season. It was proving a lot more difficult than she had originally thought; Lily apparently abhorred the sport and refused to go watch James Potter show off even more. It was almost comical; the second that Erica brought it up, Jenn had started laughing hysterically while Lily went into a five minute rant about everything she hated about the sport. Then she gathered up her things and stormed out of the Great Hall, probably heading up to the library to work her frustration out on another piece of homework.

Erica sat there in shock, feeling as if she had just unintentionally stepped on a landmine, which caused Jenn to laugh harder. "Oh, you should see the look on your face," she said in between her giggles.

"How can she hate Quidditch?" Erica asked. She had never heard of anyone hating the sport before. Of course, there were people that didn't much care for the sport but they still went to the matches to support their house.

Jenn shrugged, her whole body still shaking with laughter. "Some people just don't like sports. Why'd you ask, anyways?"

Erica looked down at the table, not wanting to look Jenn in the eye as she lied through her teeth. "I just thought it would be fun if we all went together. I've heard the Hogwarts matches were always a lot of fun."

Jenn snorted, "You should use that whole sympathy thing on her."

"You think it'd actually work?" Erica asked curiously, hoping that she wasn't giving too much of her plan away.

"It might," Jenn answered. They got up together and headed out of the Great Hall. "Have you done the Potions essay yet?"

"No," Erica said glumly. "I haven't even started it yet."

"Good," Jenn smiled, linking her arm with Erica's. "We can work on it together, then."

They spent a good portion of their Sunday in the library, working their way through their piles of homework. Erica was amazed at simply how much work they were being assigned this early in the year. Unfortunately for her, they had finally reached the point where she had been at with her tutor and she found herself falling back in the classes, her grades slowly slipping. She actually found herself wishing that Mr. Woodruff was around, he had been wonderful at explaining things to her in a way that she could understand and she was certain that she would fail her N.E.W.T.s without him.

The sun was hanging low above the forbidden forest when someone behind Erica whispered, "Hey, new girl."

She shrieked and jumped about a foot in the air, causing quite a few people to look at her in alarm and annoyance. "Are you alright?" Jenn asked, looking at her as if she thought all the schoolwork had driven her mad.

"I, uh…" Erica trailed off, listening hard. She thought maybe she'd hear the swish of that strange cloak that would let her know where James was, but all she could hear was the turning of pages and Ms. Pince's labored breathing as she swooped around the students defiling her beloved books. "No. I need to… go… to the bathroom." She grabbed her things quickly and rushed out of the library, trying to avoid Jenn's confused stare. Once she was out of the library, she leaned against the stone wall of the hallway and hoped that James would show himself soon. She didn't feel like cementing her reputation as a nutter by talking to herself. Soon enough, she heard the two distinctive laughs of James Potter and Sirius Black and she rolled her eyes. "That was not cool, James."

"You should have seen your face," James chuckled.

"Yes, well, I'm sure you'd look pretty comical too if you had invisible people sneaking up on you," she said, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Oh please," James said. "That was the first time I've done it. You should have seen this berk when he first found out about the invisibility cloak, he snuck up on everyone in it for a whole year."

"Yeah, well, simple pleasures for simple minds," she said, smiling cheekily at Sirius. James laughed even harder at this but Erica's smile faltered at the icy glare Sirius was sending her way. Their small truce was over, then.

James cleared his throat, trying to dispel the awkward tension that was radiating from his two friends. "I was just wondering how you were doing with your apology?"

Erica rolled her eyes. "I don't understand why you want her to go so badly."

James reached up absentmindedly and starting ruffling the back of his hair, the way he always did whenever Lily Evans was mentioned. "I don't know," he muttered. "I just thought, you know, she might have fun. And she never goes to them so –"

"Wait a minute," Sirius interrupted, looking between the two of them in confusion. "What are you two banging on about?"

James smirked, all his self-confidence restored now that the subject was off Lily Evans. "Well, you know how she just simply _wasted_ all of my time yesterday, so she was desperate to make it up to me somehow."

"And what does this have to do with Evans?" Sirius asked.

Erica looked at him curiously, wondering how he knew that they were talking about Lily since they never actually mentioned her name. James smiled sheepishly and said, "Well, I figured if anyone could convince Lily to go to a Quidditch match, it would be her."

Sirius rolled his eyes at his friend before turning his icy glare on Erica. She felt a shiver run down her spine, one that had nothing to do with the temperature in the cold hallway. "Well, that's nice," he said, his voice dripping in sarcasm. "Selling out your friends already, I see."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" she asked.

"It's just nice to know that you're showing your true colors already," he said, the malice quite obvious in his voice.

Erica felt her anger take over her then and she ran at him. She wasn't even thinking about using her wand, all she knew was that she had to hurt him for even implying that she would ever hurt her friends. The two boys were much too fast for her, though. Sirius had withdrawn his wand from inside his robes and pointed it right at her face while James stepped between the two of them, grabbing Erica's shoulders and holding her back. "Whoa!" he yelled. "Calm down, Costello. He didn't mean it! Right, Sirius?" He shot a look at Sirius, one that clearly said that Sirius had better agree with him.

Sirius sighed and put his wand back in his pocket. He leaned against the wall of the corridor and glared at Erica. "Right. I didn't mean it," he said in a not very convincing voice.

Jenn walked out of the library at that moment and stopped dead in her tracks, looking at the scene in front of her in shock. Erica finally stopped struggling against James's hold. "God, Sirius," she spit out as she grabbed her book bag off the ground. "You are such a tit!" Then she grabbed Jenn by the arm and stormed off down the hall, Black's obnoxious laughter seeming to follow her as she went.

Once the girls were gone, James turned to his friend and punched him hard in the arm, effectively stopping his laughter. "What is the matter with you?"

"What?" Sirius asked, defensively.

"Why do you always have to be such a wanker around her?"

"What did I do?" Sirius was a little alarmed by the way James was acting.

"She's not selling out her friends!" James said, finally letting his annoyance show at the way Sirius had been treating his new friend. "If you must know, I goaded her into doing it."

"It's kind of funny, isn't it?" Sirius asked. He knew James was annoyed with him but he simply didn't understand why James had decided to be her friend in the first place. "She does a lot of stupid things when she's goaded into them, like going out in the open when Voldemort is supposedly after her."

"Oh, not this again!" James said, throwing his hands up in exasperation. "How can you still believe she's lying?"

"How can you not?" Sirius asked, his voice rising in anger. "I can't be the only one who thinks it's a little strange! I mean, she showed up out of nowhere, and no one's ever heard of her or her family before, and she knows all about the Death Eaters and Voldemort's plans? It's all a little bit fishy, isn't it?"

"Of course no one's heard of her!" James said, getting louder as well. "Have you ever thought that maybe she's changed her name, what with the evilest wizard alive after her and all?"

"What, is that another lie she's told you?" Sirius sneered.

James shook his head and was about to reply when Madam Pince came storming out of the library. "There are people trying to study in here!" she said shrilly, looking at the two of them as if she couldn't believe they would dare try to disturb the peace of the library. "Now get out of here before I give you both a detention!"

Sirius and James looked at each other and then cracked up, their laughter ringing loudly in the stone hallway as they left quickly before Madam Pince could assign detentions, their argument seemingly forgotten.

* * *

**A/N:** I'm so sorry it's taken me so long to update this. To be perfectly honest, I lost a lot of interest in Harry Potter in the past couple years. By the time I got into it again, my computer was dead thanks to a bottle of beer and it took me almost six months to save up enough to buy a new one. I do have a couple chapters written up now and I am still writing because I have a lot of fun with this story, but I'm working to finish _Impossible _right now and my life is crazy busy so I'm not sure how often I'll be able to update. I hope you guys can bear with me, though. Anyways, please review and let me know what you think of this chapter!! :)


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

Erica's mission had simply proved impossible. No matter how many times she mentioned that she had never seen a Hogwarts Quidditch match before, Lily still refused to go. She tried not to think about what Sirius had said as she pestered Lily, but maybe he was right. Maybe she was selling her friend out for another one. She couldn't stop thinking about the cruel way he said it, or the icy look in his grey eyes. And that was why Friday night found her strangely quiet in the common room, lost in thought about what kind of friend she was turning into. She had always thought she had been a very loyal friend, but she was kind of tricking Lily so that James could get what he wanted. Although she was sure Lily would have actually had a fun time at the match, she shouldn't have been pushing her to go just so James could show off even more, especially since Lily seemed to detest him so much.

"Erica, are you alright?" Lily asked, jarring her out of her thoughts.

"Yeah," Erica muttered, blushing slightly as she realized she had spent the past hour staring at the Marauders. "Sorry. What were you saying?"

"You're pretty pissed at him, aren't you?" Jenn said, looking knowingly between her and Sirius. Erica raised an eyebrow at her and Jenn rolled her eyes. "Come on, Erica. I'm pretty sure that if looks could kill, he'd be dead five times over by now."

Erica shrugged. "He's just an annoying little berk, that's all."

"Uh huh," Jenn said, looking at her skeptically. "Is that why you were trying to claw his eyes out outside the library a couple days ago?"

Lily looked at Erica in horror. "You did what?!"

Erica was too busy glaring at Jenn to answer, though. "Thanks, Jenn," she said sarcastically. They had both agreed to not mention what had happened to Lily, she would have been horrified to hear what had almost taken place right outside the place she considered sacred.

Jenn just shrugged, shooting Erica an innocent look. "Well, you never told me what you were fighting about."

"He's just an obnoxious twat," Erica said. "Do I really need a reason for wanting to hurt him? I mean, you have seen the way he treats me, haven't you?" Neither of them had anything to say to that. They had noticed how cold Sirius had been to her the last week, either ignoring her completely or making some cruel remark about her. "It's a pity that James stopped me, really," she added, her right hand clenched into a fist around the quil she was holding.

"Well, you probably would have been expelled if you murdered him," Lily said in a mock thoughtful voice. "So it was actually the smartest thing Potter's ever done."

Erica scoffed. "Are you sure? Because I think I'd deserve some kind of Special Services to the School Award."

Lily and Jenn giggled at this, before Lily pointed to the empty goblet on the table and said, "Okay, now you try and get water in it"

Erica sighed and looked at the cup that had been her downfall in that day's Charms lesson. No matter how hard she tried, she simply couldn't fill it with water. "You know," Jenn said, trying to hold back a smile, "glaring at it isn't going to help."

Erica shot her a dirty look before turning back to the goblet. '_Aquamenti!'_ she thought, swishing her wand. A jet of water shot out of the end of her wand with the force of some kind of fire hose and hit Jenn square in the chest. She stared in complete shock, not realizing that the water was still shooting out of her wand until Lily shouted, "Erica, stop it!"

She pulled her wand up and ran over to the other side of the table, where Jenn had been knocked off her chair from the sheer force of the water. "Oh, Merlin's balls," she said, helping Lily pull Jenn up into a sitting position. "I'm so sorry, Jenn. Are you alright?"

"Yes," Jenn said, sounding dazed as she rubbed the spot in the center of her chest where the water had hit her. "But maybe you shouldn't practice Charms when you're so pissed off, yeah?"

"Oh, have you ladies decided to have an impromptu wet t-shirt contest without us?" Sirius asked as he and the rest of the Marauders came up behind them. Peter and James sniggered while Remus blushed wildly and politely looked away.

Jenn let out a loud squeak when she realized the white blouse that she had been wearing was not completely see-through. She quickly crossed her arms over her chest and glared at Sirius. "You didn't sound so cheeky when you were begging to see that two years ago," she snaped.

James laughed even harder at this. "She's got you there, mate."

"Ah, yes," Sirius smiled, "and luckily for you, they seem to have grown since then." He looked like he was going to say something else, but stopped when he had to dodge the hex that Lily shot at him. Jenn glared at him before hurrying up the stairs to the girls' dormitory. "Right," Sirius said, as if nothing had just happened and the two girls in front of him weren't glaring murderously at him, "so who's next?" Lily pointed her wand at him again but he was too quick, he already had his out and pointed directly at her chest. "What do you think, James? Will Evans look better in a wet shirt than Morrison?"

James looked absolutely dumbfounded at this question. His gaze went from Lily's face, who was now staring daggers at him, down to her chest, and his face turned a bright scarlet. He opened his mouth, probably to make a comment that would in all likelihood get him slapped, but luckily he managed to notice Erica shaking her head at him. He muttered something about homework and practically sprinted to an armchair on the other side of the common room while Sirius stared after him, feeling more than a little betrayed.

When Sirius's back was turned, Erica took the opportunity to flick her wand in the same way she had before. "Oy, Padfoot!" Peter yelled, trying to warn his friend, but it was too late. As soon as Sirius turned around, he got such a strong blast of water to the chest that it knocked him backwards

"Oh dear, Black," Erica said in mock disappointed, trying hard not to laugh. She eyed his muscular chest, which was now completely visible through the soaked fabric of his white uniform short, and she started to blush. "Looks like you've lost the contest. But don't worry, puberty will come soon enough." She patted his head as she walked past him and then ran up the stairs to her dormitory, praying that Sirius would be too stunned to do anything before she was safely out of reach.

Lily came up right behind her, laughing so hard that she had to lean against the doorframe for support. "What happened?" Jenn asked, looking between the two. She was now wearing a red flannel top and had been in the middle of changing into her pajama bottoms when the two of them had burst into the room. Lily, who was laughing too hard to speak, waved her hand at Erica to indicate that she wanted her to tell the story.

"Well," Erica said, her cheeks still burning. "After you left, I got Black with the same, you know," she nodded at the soaking wet shirt that was now hanging from one of Jenn's bed posts, "then I let him know that his chest was quite unimpressive and I raced up here before he could do anything."

Lily calmed down enough to say, "He looked so mad! And the way Potter ran away at the mere mention…" It all became too much for her and she started to laugh hysterically again.

Erica laughed too, but stopped when Jenn said, "Unimpressive, huh? Then why are you blushing so much?"

She crossed her arms over her chest and said, "Well, it's not my fault that Black is actually pretty fit. But that doesn't change the fact that he's a complete wanker."

Lily, who had finally stopped laughing, sat down on her bed and said, "It gets easier once you get to know them. Their personalities will completely turn your hormones off after a while."

"Did you just compliment James Potter?" Jenn asked in surprise.

"In a back-handed sort of way," Lily shrugged. She laughed at the shocked look at her face. "What? It's not like I can deny that he's attractive. He's just such an obnoxious jerk that it makes it impossible to be around him." Then she turned to Erica and said, "Speaking of Potter, I hope he realizes that he owes you his life."

"What do you mean?" Erica asked curiously as she made her way over to her trunk. There was no way she'd be able to go back down to the common room now, Black would probably kill her, so she was resigned to going to bed early.

"Don't think I didn't notice you shaking your head at him," Lily said, the corners of her lips twitching as she tried to hold in a smile. "And it's a good thing you did, too, or else I would have killed him for saying whatever he was about to say."

"Hopefully he'll be able to stop Black from taking his revenge," Jenn said.

"Oh shit," Erica groaned, putting her head in her hands. "There's no way I can go to the quidditch match now." Who knows what Sirius would do if James wasn't around to stop him?

"Oh, don't worry," Lily said, suddenly sounding very annoyed. "I'll go to the bloody match with you."

Erica smiled brightly at her, the plan finally working. "Cheers, Lily."

-----

Erica woke up to the sun streaming into the dormitory windows and smiled, certain that it was going to be a good day. Sure, she still had Sirius to deal with but she was certain that James would be able to stop him once he realized that she had convinced Lily to go to the match, although she wasn't sure it would work out quite the way James imagined. And to make things even better, Cassidy Wilson had come in right before she had gone to sleep last night and made it clear that she was giving Erica the silent treatment for putting Sirius in such a bad mood. Now all Erica needed was a Gryffindor win to make the day perfect.

"Ugh, finally," Lily said, looking very cross. Her arms were crossed over her chest and her leg was bouncing impatiently.

"What?" Erica asked, looking between her and Jenn in confusion.

Jenn rolled her eyes at Lily and answered, "I wouldn't let her wake you up at the ass crack of dawn like she wanted."

"Thanks for that," Erica said, still feeling more than a little confused. "And why did you want to wake me so early?"

"So we could go to breakfast!" Lily said in annoyance, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"Why didn't you just go without me?"

"Well," Jenn said, looking at her in concern, "based on how pissed Cassidy claims Black was last night, we decided you shouldn't be walking around the castle alone."

"And what, you're my armed guard?" Erica laughed. She was touched that they were so concerned about her but she wasn't scared of Sirius.

"You don't know Sirius," Lily pointed out. "He can be really cruel."

Erica shrugged her shoulders, not really concerned, and got dressed quickly. They headed down to the Great Hall soon after that and she was unable to hold her laughter in at the way they stationed themselves on either side of her. "Really, you guys," she said. "It's fine. Black doesn't scare me."

"You should be," Lily said, looking around to make sure he wasn't going to jump out from some dark corner and ambush them.

"Honestly," Erica sighed, trying to make them relax. "It's not like he's going to kill me."

"Except you'll probably wish he had once he's finished with you," Jenn said, her hand stuck in her pocket so she'd be ready to pull her wand out at a moment's notice. They both tensed when they entered the Great Hall and saw Sirius sitting with the rest of the Marauders at the Gryffindor table.

"See?" Erica asked, a little annoyed with herself for the fact that she noticed him first. "He's too involved with his eggs to bother hurting me right now."

"Whatever," Lily said, pulling Erica to the opposite end of the table as discretely as possible so as not to draw any attention to themselves.

"Oh, hello Erica!" Cassidy said loudly, stealing a look down at Sirius. "How are you doing this morning?"

"Stupid bint," Lily muttered as she shoved Erica, who had stopped to tell Cassidy off, down to an empty spot at the table.

Jenn laughed as she sat down next to Lily. "What's gotten into you lately?"

"What do you mean?" Lily asked.

"You're just… different this year," Jenn said, privately thinking that she liked her friend a lot more when she wasn't under the influence of Severus Snape.

Lily shrugged and smiled at her friend. "Maybe your bad influence has finally taken effect."

While they were talking, Erica looked over and noticed James was staring at her intently. Once he realized that he caught her eye, he nodded towards Lily with his eyebrows raised, clearly asking if she was going to the match. Erica rolled her eyes and gave him a thumbs up the second Lily turned her back. 'Nice,' he mouthed, grinning widely at her before turning back to his friends.

"So Evans is going, then?" Sirius asked disinterestedly, his mind full of all the possible pranks he could play on the new girl for making him look like an idiot in front of the whole Gryffindor common room.

"Yes!" James said, unable to wipe the grin off his face. "This is great! We better win now! If Jenkins plays like shit again today, I swear I'll –"

"Wait, what?" Remus asked, looking between his two friends in confusion. "Lily's going to the match? How did that happen?"

James shrugged. "The new girl is a miracle worker, apparently."

"Or just immersed in some extremely Dark Magic," Sirius retorted.

James groaned and mimed hitting his head on the table. "When are you going to give that up, mate?"

"When you finally listen to me!" Sirius said, trying to keep his voice down. He was getting so frustrated with his friend, he couldn't understand why he was being so difficult about some girl he barely knew.

"Look," James said harshly, getting a little sick of having this argument. Sirius had continued to bring it up countless times during the week, not seeming to notice how annoyed James got every time he did. "I believe her, and unless you can give me concrete evidence that she's a Death Eater, I'm going to keep believing her. Alright?"

Sirius looked down at this empty plate, trying to hide the sour look on his face. "Bad luck, mate," Peter said softly, clapping Sirius on the back. Sirius shook his head. It didn't matter, he was still going to get her back for last night. And he would eventually find the proof he needed to show James that she was untrustworthy. He just hoped that it wasn't already too late when he did.

"And don't do anything to her for the wet shirt thing, either!" James said suddenly, looking at his friend pleadingly.

"What?!" Sirius practically shouted. "What's gotten into you, Prongs? I swear, if I didn't know any better, I'd think you fancied her or something."

"Don't be ridiculous," James replied, making a face at that. Sirius breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that at least he wouldn't have to worry about that. "It's just… you did kind of deserve it." He noticed the rest of the team leaving the Great Hall. "See you guys later," he said before following them outside.

"He's gone mad!" Sirius said, turning to Remus and Peter. Peter looked just as shocked as he felt but Remus pursed his lips. "Oh, don't tell me you agree with him, Moony!"

"You were out of line last night," Remus said, looking down at his plate. It was a lot easier to voice his opinion on Sirius's immature pranks when he knew that James agreed with him.

"I was not!" Sirius said angrily.

"You can't just go around threatening to blast girls' shirts with water. You're lucky you didn't get slapped with a sexual harassment suit," he said.

Sirius made a face. "Most girls love showing me their –"

"And yet you picked the three who didn't want to," Remus said, interrupting Sirius before he gave out more information than Remus wanted to hear.

"Well, I was the one that ended up with a wet shirt, wasn't I? Maybe I should hit the new girl with sexual suit," Sirius said.

Peter sniggered at this and Remus tried not to smile. "A sexual _harassment_ suit," he corrected.

"Whatever," Sirius muttered. He leaned back in his chair and turned away from his friends so he could glare a hole in the side of Erica's head. He didn't care what his friends said, he was completely justified in taking revenge on her. He would just have to do it when they weren't around. Anyways, he was sure James would thank him for whatever prank he pulled once he saw her true colors.

She got up shortly after that and walked down to the pitch with Lily and Jenn. Sirius quickly said goodbye to his friends and went after them. He still wasn't sure what he was going to do but he was going to make sure he sat close enough to them just in case inspiration struck. After all, the quidditch game would be the prefect setting since the whole school would be there to witness her humiliation. He followed them into stands designated for the Gryffindors and sat two rows behind them, trying to stay out of sight. So far, the two girls that Erica had probably begged to keep her company hadn't noticed his presence, and he hoped to keep it that way.

However, much to his disappointment, Cassidy Wilson sat down in front of him a couple minutes after the game had started and said, very loudly, "Hey Sirius!"

Sirius tried not to make a face as he responded, "Hello, Cassidy."

Erica's head whipped around at the sound of his voice. She narrowed her eyes at him and said, "Are you stalking me, Black?"

Sirius opened his mouth to retort but Cassidy came to his defense first. "Don't flatter yourself, Costello."

Erica just rolled her eyes at her and turned back to the match just in time to see James score the first goal of the game. Sirius scowled at her and tried to turn his attention back to the pitch, although it was kind of hard with the way Evans kept asking questions about quidditch. It was almost as if she had never been to a match before. He was surprised that Erica was able to be so patient as she explained the rules of the game to her over and over; he knew that he would have gotten too annoyed after the first few minutes. He even had to stifle a laugh at the way she pulled Lily back into her seat after she had tried giving a standing ovation to a bludger that hit James in the stomach. He had to admit that she wasn't outwardly evil, although he was still a little suspicious about her ulterior motives, no matter what James said. He might have been exaggerating a little when he said she was a Death Eater but he was definitely sure that the story she had given everyone was bullocks.

Cassidy noticed the way Sirius had been staring at Erica for most of the match and felt like she had to do something, anything, to make sure he still hated her as much as he did when she first showed up. "So, Erica, did you come here to cheer on your boyfriend?"

Erica turned around and raised an eyebrow at Cassidy. "What?"

She ignored Erica's question and turned to Lily. "I think it's really great that you don't mind her picking up your sloppy seconds."

Lily ignored Cassidy, knowing the best course of action when she got like this was to just act like she wasn't there, but Erica took the bait. "What the fuck are you talking about?"

"You and James," Cassidy said, turning back to Erica. "You guys are dating, right? I mean, you have been practically attached at the hip lately."

"No," Erica said, looking more confused by the second.

"It must suck, though, knowing that he still pines after Lily," Cassidy continued.

Erica turned to Lily and asked, "What the hell is she talking about?"

Lily simply rolled her eyes. "Ignore her, she just wants to get a rise out of you."

Erica nodded and turned back to the match, but she whipped back around to look at Cassidy in wide-eyed shock when she said, "I mean, we can all hear you crying every night."

"What?" Erica whispered. She turned to her two friends, who were now staring resolutely at the match, which only confirmed it. Apparently, her silencing charms weren't working as well as she had previously thought.

"Oh no, you didn't realize we could all hear you?" Cassidy asked, a malicious glint in her eyes. She glanced over at Sirius, who was watching them curiously, and it only seemed to egg her on. "I just have one question. Why do you keep calling out for your mum? Is she that well versed in getting men to –"

Erica had her wand out and pointed at Cassidy's jugular before she could finish her sentence. "Don't you dare talk about my mum."

"Erica!" Lily said, sounding completely scandalized. She grabbed Erica's arm and tried to make her lower her wand but Erica wouldn't budge.

"Come on," Jenn chimed in. "She's not worth it."

Erica kept her wand pointed at Cassidy, who was starting to look a little frightened now, and breathed deeply. Jenn was right, it would be stupid to hurt Cassidy now with so many teachers around, no matter how badly she wanted to. She slowly lowered her wand, glaring at Cassidy as she did so, and then turned back to the match. But the second her back was turned, Cassidy jinxed her. And then Erica didn't care so much about all the teachers currently attending the match, or the fact that there were warts popping up all over her face. She didn't even really mind the fact that her wand was still stuck in her pocket as she launched herself at Cassidy.

Erica didn't really notice anything after that. It was as if all the sounds around them were suddenly muted. She distinctly heard Sirius yell, "Fight!" causing everyone around them to turn around. She could feel Lily and Jenn's hands as they tried to move her off of Cassidy. But all she could focus on was the satisfying stinging in her hands as she kept hitting every inch of Cassidy that she could reach.

* * *

**A/N:** A huge thank you goes out to runner21, Valinor's Twilight, Bookits, beachgal and WhisperInTheRain for reviewing the last chapter! I think that might be the most I've gotten so far, haha. I hope you guys like this chapter as well! I will try to update again soon but I have a very important final next week and then I start clinicals after that so it might be a couple weeks. But please let me know what you think of this chapter! Who knows, it might just motivate me to put the next one up faster ;) haha


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

James had been staring impatiently at the portrait hole for the past hour. He was waiting desperately to see what Lily had thought of the Quidditch match, and more importantly, the six goals he scored but she had yet to show up. He was beginning to think that Erica had been pulling his leg when she said Lily was going. In fact, she was probably in the library right now working on her Charms homework. He slumped back onto the scarlet couch and took a bottle of firewhiskey, one of the many bottles of alcohol that had 'mysteriously' appeared when Sirius had arrived to the victory party, from the third years sitting next to him. He took a large sip just as Erica walked in through the portrait hole, a scowl on her face, with Lily on her heels, her mouth moving rapidly.

His face lit up the second he saw her and he waved Erica over, hoping Lily would follow her. Erica frowned at him, probably on to what he was doing, but sat down next to him anyways. To his delight, Lily sat in the armchair across from them. "It was so ridiculous! You shouldn't have let her get to you like that; she was only trying to make you angry. Why didn't you just –"

James interrupted her by asking, "So, did you enjoy the game, Evans?"

"Oh yes," Lily said acidly. "My favorite part was when that ball almost knocked you off your broom. It's a pity you managed to hang on." Then she turned to the seventh year boy sitting in the chair next to her and starting talking about Transfiguration, of all things.

James opened his mouth to say something else but Erica felt the best thing to do was fill him in on what had happened. "We only saw the first ten minutes."

"Why?" James asked, sounding more than a little disappointed.

"I got in a fight with Cassidy Wilson," Erica muttered, scowling at the brunette entering the common room.

James chuckled. "Wow, new girl, that's what, three fights in your first month and a half here? Impressive."

"Three?" Lily said, suddenly interested in their conversation. "Who else have you been fighting?"

"Oh, come on!" Erica said, feeling a little surprised at this information herself. She had never considered herself a violent person, the only fights she had ever been before in were silly little wrestling matches with her brothers. But this whole traveling back in time thing was wearing on her, frazzling her nerves and making her short-tempered, especially around the people that seemed to enjoy provoking her most. And the fight with Snape… well, that was just a little bit of payback for the hell he would put her through in the future. "That one outside the library doesn't count! I never actually hit Sirius."

"That's true," James conceded. "But you did hit Snivellus."

Lily turned to Erica in wide-eyed shock. "You hit Severus?"

"Yes, but he deserved it!" Erica said, hoping Lily wouldn't hit the roof. "He cornered me when I was by myself and had me hanging in the air before I even knew he was there. Who knows what he would have done if James and Sirius didn't hadn't showed up."

Lily shook her head, staring at Erica with narrowed eyes. Then she got up and stormed upstairs, reappearing minutes later with her book bag. "Is she doing homework?" James asked, sounding both confused and intrigued.

"Yeah, it's her thing," Erica said. "And thanks for telling her about Snape! God, I just got an hour-long lecture over hitting someone that she doesn't even like. I can only imagine the lecture I'm going to get now that she knows I hit somebody she actually likes."

"She doesn't like Snivellus," James said sharply.

"I thought they used to be –"

"_Used to be_ being the key words there," James interrupted.

"Whatever." Erica snatched the bottle of firewhiskey out of his hands and taking a big gulp.

"Careful," James said, watching her with wide eyes. "It burns –"

"Oh, don't be an idiot, James," Erica said, before taking another large swig. "I've drank firewhiskey before."

"You know, new girl," James smirked, looking impressed, "you got Evans to come to the match, you hit Snivellus in the face and you apparently know how to drink firewhiskey. I think I might be in love with you."

"Ugh, don't make me throw up," Erica muttered, trying to hold in her laughter.

James laughed, "Cheers." He grabbed the bottle of alcohol from her and took a large gulp.

They sat like that for a while, drinking from the bottle of firewhiskey while James gave her a play-by-play recount of the Quidditch match. The sunlight had faded almost completely by the time Jenn sat down across from them. "Hey Jenn," Erica said, her words slightly slurring.

Jenn laughed. "So that's where the firewhiskey went."

"Sirius brought more than one bottle," James said, furrowing his brow in confusion. "In fact, I'm pretty sure he brought a whole case."

Jenn rolled her eyes. "Well, congrats on the match, James."

"And the party," James said, surveying the common room where the whole of Gryffindor tower was celebrating. "This is some party, right?"

Jenn shrugged. "I don't know, I think it would be a lot better if we had some music."

James stared at her with wide eyes. "You know, you are so right." He stood up, wobbling a little on his feet before grabbing onto the side of the couch to steady himself. "Hold on, I'm going to get Remus's wireless."

As soon as he was gone, Jenn grabbed Erica's hands and dragged her off the sofa. "Right, now that he's gone, you can apologize to Lily."

"What?!" Erica said, certain that the alcohol had somehow affected her hearing.

Jenn pulled her over to the corner where Lily was studying. "Lily, will you please put down the Transfiguration homework? Erica has something to say to you."

"I do?" Erica asked, feeling very confused.

Lily scoffed. "She's drunk, Jenn. I wouldn't believe any apology she had, anyways."

"But I don't have an apology," Erica said, slowly catching on.

Lily's temper flared. "So you think it's okay to go around hitting people?"

"Lily," Erica said slowly, trying to think clearly through the haze of inebriation. She didn't want Lily to be angry with her but she had to make her see why Erica didn't feel sorry without revealing too much. "Snape cornered me because I'm a mudblood. What was I supposed to do?"

"You should have walked away!" Lily snapped.

"Yes, turning my back on someone who is practically a death eater would have been a great idea."

"He is not –"

"Lily," Erica said pleadingly as she sat down across from her. "You know who he hangs out with and I'm sure you know all about the things they've done. I know you want to think he's not like that but…"

Lily sighed and wiped absently at her eyes. "I know who he hangs out with," she said darkly. "But I just can't see Severus –"

"Really, Lily?" Erica asked. "Are you telling me that in all the time you've known him, he hasn't once used the word 'mudblood'?" Lily put her head in her hands, not saying anything. "Look, I know he's your friend but I'm not going to apologize for defending myself against someone that wants me dead simply because of who my parents were."

Jenn looked between the two of them, obviously trying to think of a way to dispel the tension that had filled the corner they were sitting in. Luckily, James had just turned Remus's wireless on and the common room was suddenly filled with the sound of big band music turned up as high as it would go. Everyone in the common room jumped, the deafening sound taking them by surprise. James quickly turned it back off, shook his head, and muttered something about Remus needing to find some new music. He tapped it with his wand and the common room was again full of the sound of loud music, but this time it was a rock band that sounded strangely familiar.

"Is this The Weird Sisters?" Erica asked, certain now that she was hearing things.

"You know them?" Jenn looked both surprised and pleased. "Their record came out last year and no one seems to know who they are yet but I swear, this band is going to be huge. They're amazing!" She got up and pulled Erica out of her seat. "Come on!"

Erica looked at her in confusion before realizing that the majority of the people in the common room had gotten up and started to dance. "I don't know," she said, feeling a little embarrassed. She wasn't exactly all that great at dancing.

"Come on," Jenn repeated. "It's a party! Loosen up!"

Erica looked around the common room again and shrugged, figuring she had drunk enough to blame all of her flailing moves on the firewhiskey. She closed her eyes and started swaying her hips in time with the beat of the hard rock song, trying to ignore the amused look Jenn shot her. And then something amazing happened; she simply lost herself in the music. This was a band she loved in her own time, and a song that she had often danced around her bedroom to. Listening to it again, perhaps some of the alcohol helped as well, made her forget about the fact that she was in 1975, surrounded by children who would soon meet tragedy at the hands of Lord Voldemort. All that mattered was the beat of the drums and the lead singer's voice as he belted out the chorus to one of her favorite songs.

She didn't open her eyes again until the song was over. To her surprise, she saw that Sirius Black had been watching her, but not with his usual look of contempt. The corners of his lips were twitching, as if he was trying to hold back a smile, and his grey eyes, usually cold as ice, looked warm and inviting. She felt her cheeks burn as the blood rushed to them and she whipped around before he could see the effect he had on her. She grabbed Lily, who was still doing her homework, by the wrist and attempted to drag her to her feet.

"No!" Lily said, trying weakly to resist Erica. "I can't dance."

"So?" Erica laughed. "Neither can I. But it's a lot more fun than homework."

Jenn grabbed Lily's other wrist and helped Erica pull her off her chair. "Come on, Lily! It's a lot easier to forget it like this than burying yourself in Transfiguration."

Lily pursed her lips for a moment before starting to dance too. The three of them stayed like that for the rest of the night, their dance moves getting a little more outrageous with each hour that passed.

By the time Erica rolled into bed late that night, the firewhiskey's effect had almost worn off and it took her a while to fall asleep. She knew that she had to make a change; she would have to work on bottling her emotions up and hiding the anguish she felt. Even now, when she was finally isolated from the rest of her dorm mates, she wasn't really alone. They could hear her, had heard her, crying herself to sleep each night and it wasn't something that could continue, especially now that she knew there were some people that would hold it against her, like Cassidy Wilson. And she couldn't let her emotions take charge anymore, especially since they seemed to best manifest themselves in violence towards other students. If she got into too many fights, she would draw attention to herself and that was something she couldn't do. Dumbledore had warned her on her first day in the past that she would have to try to alter time as little as possible because the slightest change could turn the entire future upside down. And as wonderful as it would be to change the future for the better, she also ran the risk of making things worse. She sighed heavily, turned on her side, and for the first time since she entered the past, tried to think of nothing as she fell asleep.

-----

Time seemed to pass quickly after that. Erica and Cassidy had seemed to reach some kind of agreement where they stayed out of each other's way. Erica didn't think she would hit Cassidy again, she had been practicing bottling her emotions up instead of letting them flow out of her, but Cassidy seemed a little frightened of her all the same. She and Lily hadn't mentioned the small fight they had about Snape, although they both avoided the subject like the plague. And Sirius… well, Erica was sure that he would slowly drive her insane. He was either cold as ice towards her or he ignored her completely, while also giving her those strange looks that made her stomach feel like it was twisting itself into knots.

Surprisingly, her grades hadn't plummeted, although that might have had more to do with the help she was getting from both Lily and James than from her own doing. Lily had immediately taken over tutoring her in Charms after spotting the D she had received on her essay on nonverbal charms. Erica was a little embarrassed that she had fallen so far from the beginning of the year, but she had always had to work hard for her good grades and she hadn't been putting much effort in since going back in time.

Getting James to help had been a little more difficult, however. Her grades had fallen pretty far in Transfiguration, to the point where McGonnagal was considering putting her back into O.W.L. levels when she finally begged him to help her. And he really did make her beg. She was just happy that Remus was the only one still in the common room when she had literally gotten down on her knees to plead with him. He actually ended up being a really good tutor, too. He was patient with her when she didn't understand something, and was almost as good as her old tutor at dumbing things down enough for her. Erica wasn't the only one surprised by this, either. Lily just couldn't seem to get over the fact that James Potter was doing something nice for her. She constantly asked for strange details, like what exactly he had told her about human transfiguration, and she only seemed to get annoyed when she couldn't find fault with whatever he had said. It was as if she expected him to give Erica false information on purpose and didn't listen to any of Erica's assurances that James wasn't like that. Erica really liked Lily, but she was driving her crazy.

"Lily!" Erica snapped, trying to keep her voice down even though she felt her temper flaring again. She knew getting kicked out of the library wouldn't help with the whole not drawing attention to herself thing. "What does it matter what James said about vanishing spells? It's not going to help me write this essay, is it?"

Lily bit her lip, looking a little sheepish. "I'm sorry. I just can't believe he'd –"

"He'd what?" Erica interrupted. "Turn out to be a decent human being?"

"Well… yes," Lily answered. "I was certain he was Satan's spawn."

Erica rolled her eyes. "You know, Lily, people might get the wrong idea and think you're obsessed if you keep talking about James like that."

Lily's face turned white at that before pulling Erica's Charms essay towards her. Erica watched in annoyance as Lily scribbled things. "No, Erica, you've got this wrong," Lily said. "The engorgement charm doesn't –"

Erica put her head in her hands and tried to hold in a groan. As much as Erica appreciated what Lily was doing, she was nowhere near as good as James was at tutoring. It all still sounded like a bunch of gibberish to her. She tuned Lily out, although she knew she shouldn't, and watched the sun set behind the forbidden forest. It was times like now when she couldn't help but feel a very severe longing for her own time. She missed sitting in the library, doing her homework with Veronica Bluth, her best friend and tutor. Veronica was a genius who wanted nothing more than to teach at Hogwarts, and she was very good at it. After all, she had somehow managed to help Erica get E's on her Potions, Charms and Transfiguration O.W.L.s.

"Erica!" Lily said, poking her hard in the shoulder. "You're not even paying attention!"

"Sorry," Erica muttered.

"Honestly," Lily said, her anger clear in her voice. "I don't know how you expect to pass the test next week if you can't even understand the theory behind engorgement charms."

"Test?!" Erica asked, her voice taking on an unpleasant shrillness. "What test?"

Lily stared at her in shock and Erica was certain that she was going to start yelling. But then she did something completely unexpected and started to laugh. "Do you even listen when Flitwick talks? Or does your brain just turn off the second you enter the Charms classroom?"

"Well, it's so hard to hear him down there!" Erica said, a little surprised by Lily's reaction.

Lily only seemed to laugh harder at this, earning herself a nasty glare from Madam Pince. "Oh come on," she said, grabbing her bag and getting up from the table. "This is pointless, we're not going to make any progress tonight."

Erica jumped up and stuffed her work in her bag, more than happy for the reprieve from all the homework. "Okay, but tomorrow –"

"Right, tomorrow we will get to work on everything that will be on the test," Lily said.

"Thanks, Lily," Erica smiled. They walked in a comfortable silence, although Erica could feel her curiosity rising again. She found it strange how Lily and Snape were supposedly friends and yet they never spent any time together. It made her wonder if she had hit closer to home than she previously thought with all the things she said during the victory party. She held it in, though, not wanting to cause another fight with Lily, and eventually they reached the common room. Erica ran her book bag up to the dormitory, trying not to laugh as Cassidy quickly left once she had entered. By the time she had gotten back to the common room, Lily was sitting with a fifth year girl named Mary Macdonald, a pretty blonde who seemed to idolize her.

"Hi, Erica!" Mary said cheerfully. Erica couldn't help smiling at her; it was nice knowing that there were some people in 1975 that didn't hate her guts on first sight.

"Hey Mary," Erica said, sitting down next to Lily.

"How was tutoring?" Mary asked. She laughed at the tortured expression on Erica's face. "That bad, huh?"

Lily laughed. "It's probably best if we don't remind her of it."

"Please don't," Erica agreed.

"Mary," Lily said suddenly, looking at her friend strangely. "I never knew you wore glasses."

"Oh," Mary said, starting to blush. "I got them over the summer. My mum noticed I was squinting when I was doing my History of Magic homework and she kind of forced them on me."

"You don't sound too happy about that," Erica pointed out.

"I'm not," Mary said angrily, taking the thin black frames off her face. "It's so ridiculous how we can't just… magic our eyes into perfect vision." Lily raised any eyebrow at her and she laughed weakly. "I just look so stupid in glasses."

"No you don't!" Lily said sympathetically. "You look really nice in them! Studious, even. If you want to see something funny, you should put glasses on me."

"You need glasses?" Erica asked curiously.

Lily blushed a little at this. "I'm slightly nearsighted. I used to have them to read the blackboard at my primary school but I never wore them. I look awful in glasses."

"I doubt that," Erica said, looking Lily over. She knew she wasn't the only one who thought Lily was extremely pretty, and the fact that James Potter kept chasing after her definitely corroborated it.

"No, really," Lily laughed. "I looked awful. All the kids in my class used to laugh at me."

Erica and Mary looked at each other and started to laugh. "No, I still don't believe you," Mary said in between giggles.

Lily sighed and put Mary's glasses on. "See?" she asked, trying to hold back a smile.

"You do not look that bad!" Mary said, rolling her eyes at her friend. "Right, Erica?"

Erica couldn't answer. It felt as if her stomach were suddenly rebelling against the shepard's pie she had for dinner. Erica had always gotten the strange feeling of déjà vu whenever she looked into Lily's emerald green eyes, but she had always figured it was only because she had met Lily before in passing, in her own time. But now she could see that she had been completely wrong. She had definitely seen those eyes before. They had belonged to a member of her House in the 1990s and the only reason she had never noticed it was because she was used to seeing them behind glasses.

* * *

**A/N:** I hope you guys liked this chapter! Please review and let me know what you think! And a huge thank you goes out to omgizdabfd, the-loquacious-scholar, GeorgiaPeach20, Valinor's Twilight, WhisperInTheRain, and weatherwitch.X.x.X. for reviewing! I'm so glad you guys like this story! I have chapter 10 written up already so I will try to edit and post it quickly, although I can't make any promises since I'm starting clinicals this week.


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: ** Harry Potter belongs to J. K. Rowling.

**Chapter 10**

"Erica?" Mary asked, looking at her in concern. "Are you alright?"

"I have to go," Erica said, her voice barely above a whisper. She had to get out of the common room. She couldn't get a handle on her emotions and there was no way she could freak out and continue to stay under everyone's radar. She got up and raced out of the portrait hole without looking back, although she did hear Lily say, "See? I told you I looked ridiculous."

Erica ran blindly down the seventh floor corridor, stopping only when she couldn't keep the contents of her stomach down anymore. "Whoa," she heard someone say, and she had to hold in a groan as she recognized the voice. She did not want to deal with him right now. "Are you alright?"

She turned to look at Sirius as she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. "Fuck off, Black," she said, before practically sprinting to the end of the corridor. Once she turned the corner, she spotted a broom cupboard and dashed inside, sealing the door shut behind her. She backed into the corner and sunk down, hugging her knees to her chest. She couldn't believe she didn't see it before. Those familiar emerald eyes that belonged to the girl that was quickly becoming Erica's best friend also belonged to Harry Potter, the same Harry Potter whose parents were killed by Lord Voldemort himself.

She wiped at her eyes, her tears starting to blur her vision. She tried to slow her breathing but it was coming in short gasps and she was finding it impossible to calm down. It was possible she was overreacting but it felt like every emotion that she had worked so hard to bottle up was suddenly bursting out of her, as if she were some kind of human volcano. She couldn't believe this. She had long ago resigned herself to the fact that James Potter was Harry Potter's father but this… this was too much. It was hard, knowing he was someday going to get the girl of his dreams to marry him, only to die at the hands of the darkest wizard in history. It just wasn't fair. For the first time since she had been sent back in time, she was actually considering trying to change it. She couldn't let this happen to James and Lily, they were both two amazing people that deserved their happily ever after together.

She heard someone trying to open the door to the cupboard and sighed. She hoped the rumors about Filch's lack of magical ability were true because she did not want him to burst in on her and give her detention. She hid her head in her hands and tried to slow her breathing, just in case he broke the door down. She didn't even notice the person outside the door muttering something, so she was more than a little surprised when it flew open.

"Hey," Sirius said, standing over her. His trademark smirk quickly turned to a look of concern. He dropped down onto his knees and grabbed Erica's face, forcing her to look at him. "What's wrong?"

Erica shook her head, finding it impossible to answer. Sirius's appearance only seemed to work her up even more. She didn't want to hear his insults right now and she definitely didn't want him to pester her over the reason for her freak out. And the thing that she absolutely hated the most was the way her breathing started to speed up even more when he touched her.

He looked at her in shock, unsure of what to do. Then he pulled his hand back and slapped her lightly across the face. As soon as he made contact, he pulled back and put his hands up in the air, as if he were surrendering. "I had to do that," he said, looking almost wary that she would hit him back. "You needed to snap out of it."

Erica nodded. Sirius sat there and watched as her breathing finally started to slow. "Thank you," she said after a few minutes.

Sirius smirked again. "It was no problem. What were you freaking out about anyways?" Erica rolled her eyes but didn't respond. His eyes darkened as he realized what her silence meant. "Oh," he said, his voice turning cold. "It's just something else you can't tell anyone, right?"

Erica's emotions were out of control already and she just felt _tired_. She sighed and asked, "Why are you even here, Sirius?"

"Well, you see, I go to school here –" he started to say, the sarcasm completely obvious in his voice.

"No," Erica interrupted, quickly becoming frustrated. "What are you doing in _here_? Why did you follow me?"

He stared down at his hands and muttered, "I don't know." Erica scoffed at this and turned to stare at the wall. She didn't know what was going on with this guy but he was really starting to drive her mad, and the fact that she seemed to like him despite the way he treated her only made it worse. She heard him moving and didn't know why she suddenly felt worse now that he was leaving. She hugged her knees to her chest and buried her head in them, trying to hide her tears.

But then she heard the door sealing itself shut again and she looked up at him in surprise. "What are you doing?" she asked.

He shrugged. "I don't want Filch to barge in, I've had enough detentions with him this week." She was still confused and he sighed as he explained, "It is after curfew, you know."

"Oh," she said softly, watching as he moved away from the door.

He sat down next to her and stared at the wooden door for a moment before asking, "So what's wrong?"

She shook her head, trying to come up with something quickly. "I just… miss my family. It's hard getting used to the fact that they're not around anymore, you know?"

Sirius nodded, although he didn't really know what she meant. "You were really close with them, huh?"

"Well, yeah," Erica replied, looking at him in confusion. "Of course I was, being that they were my family and all."

"That doesn't mean anything," Sirius replied darkly.

"Oh," Erica said, remembering what Jenn had said about Sirius's family on her first night at Hogwarts. "Right. Sorry."

He let out a hard, cold laugh. "Ah, I see _those people_ have told you all about my family." Erica rolled her eyes but didn't even bother answering him. "Not that it surprises me. It seems like everyone knows what happened this summer."

"I don't," Erica said softly.

He looked at her in confusion and then shook his head. "You are so weird." She didn't say anything to that, just placed her head on her knees and continued to stare at the concrete wall. Sirius felt that he might have pushed her too far and couldn't believe that he actually felt guilty about it. "I ran away from home," he said.

"Why?" she asked.

"I couldn't take it anymore," he said. "My cousin left Hogwarts in June and joined the Death Eaters. Apparently, she's managed to weasel her way right into Voldemort's inner circle." He made a sour face at this. "Anyways, it was all my parents could talk about. They were so proud of her, but they completely shunned my other cousin for marrying a muggleborn. And they kept looking at me as if they expected me to follow in her footsteps. Anyways, my cousin and her fiancé came to dinner one night and pretty much enlisted my little brother into Voldemort's service and I just… I couldn't deal. So I left."

"Where did you go?"

"James's place," he replied. "His parents were really nice about it. They welcomed me into their home and let me stay for the whole summer. They even invited me back for the holidays but… I don't know, it would feel weird."

"Like you were intruding?" she asked, knowing the feeling just a little too well.

"Yeah," he nodded. He turned to look at her expectantly and she realized that she was supposed to share now too.

She frowned, wishing she had known this information came with a price, and said, "I'm pretty sure my dad was a certified genius. It always seemed like he knew everything… and he was always there to help me out when I needed him." She couldn't believe how true this was. At first it had only been a poor excuse to explain her odd behavior but as she kept talking, she realized that she meant every word of it. She did miss her father terribly, especially now when she needed his advice more than ever. He would be able to make sense of the mess she had landed in, would have laid out the pros and cons of changing the future for her friends' benefit. She held in a gasp as she felt that familiar pang in her chest as she thought of him and the tears that had dried up were running silently down her cheeks once more. "But then my mum died in June and everything went to shit. It was almost like he stopped being my dad, you know? He spent all his time at work or lying in bed. And my brothers…" Erica shook her head, the desperate longing she felt for family starting to overwhelm her.

"What happened with your brothers?" Sirius asked curiously. He could tell that talking about it was hurting her but he was also overjoyed at the fact that he was finally getting the truth from this strange girl.

"My older brothers, Sam and Dean, just stopped talking to us after the funeral. I mean, Dean lives in Egypt so we didn't hear from him much anyways but he stopped answering my owls. Sam lived near us but he said it was too hard and he needed some time alone. It was like he didn't even care that everything was falling to pieces and we needed him there. And the twins just stopped using magic. They wouldn't go to any of the tutoring sessions my dad set up. And they would stay out all night with their idiot friends doing Merlin knows what. Sometimes it felt like I was the only one willing to deal with everything. But I'd still do anything to bring them back." Her sobs took over then, making it impossible to continue talking. She found it strange that she was sharing all of this with Sirius when she hadn't even told her friends about it, but it was nice. It felt like a weight was being lifted off her shoulders. And it was the absolute truth. Too much of what she had said in the past two months had been clouded by half-truths and small lies. Erica had always felt like she was an honest person and all of the lying had worn on her. It was nice finally being able to speak the truth.

Sirius reached up tentatively and rubbed her back. He felt extremely awkward but he knew he had to do something, he had kind of pushed her into talking about it. "I'm sorry," he said sincerely, honestly feeling bad for her. He felt a little twinge of guilt for the way he had treated her but he was able to shrug it off. Just because she was being honest with him right now didn't mean that she always had been. He was still a little baffled as to how she knew about Snape, and it seemed a little odd to him that Voldemort would want to go after a seemingly ordinary sixteen year old girl, but he pushed that aside for now.

Erica tried to calm herself down quickly, but it felt like it was all coming out now. She had bottled up the longing for her family for so long that it was finally bursting out of her. And the fact that Sirius was touching her did not seem to calm her down at all, the movement of his hand sending shivers up her spine. It seemed to take her forever, the minutes dragging on in the awkward tension that filled the broom cupboard, but she finally managed to stop the tears from falling. She shrugged him off and wiped at her tears before muttering, "Thanks."

"Yeah, well, I did promise James that I'd be nicer to you," he joked, giving her his trademark smirk.

She rolled her eyes, although she couldn't help wondering if it was true. "I'll let him know that you held to it, then," she said as she stood up. She had to get back to Lily and Mary and try to explain her strange behavior before it was too late. She turned back to Sirius and looked into his eyes, feeling the heat of the blush creeping up her neck, and said, "Really, thank you." She turned back to the door quickly before he noticed her bright red cheeks, muttered the charm that would open it, and strode out into the hallway.

She had barely made it to the corner when she heard him call out, "Wait up!" She stopped and waited for him, despite her better judgment. She knew the truce they had stumbled upon tonight would only last for a little while and she didn't want to still be around him when he decided she was full of crap again. "Where are you going?" he asked once he caught up with her.

She looked at him in confusion. "Uh, the common room. It is after curfew, you know," she smirked as she repeated his words from earlier.

He walked in silence beside her for a moment before saying, "Look, don't mention the thing about my brother to anyone, especially James. He doesn't take that kind of stuff very well."

"I've noticed that," she said. He looked at her expectantly and she sighed. "Don't worry, I'll keep it to myself." He nodded, satisfied with her answer. "And don't tell anyone about what I said, okay? My family's dysfunction isn't really something I want to get out."

He let out a loud, bitter laugh. "Believe me, I know that feeling." She tried to hold back her laughter, not wanting to make him angry by letting on to how much she knew about his family. It was kind of pathetic but she actually enjoyed being on good terms with Sirius.

The moment was shattered, though, when they heard Lily yell from behind them, "Erica! There you are!"

Erica turned around and smiled. "Hey, Lily. Sorry about earlier, I –"

Lily, who had noticed her puffy red eyes and wet cheeks, rounded on Sirius and demanded, "What have you done to her?"

Sirius looked completely baffled. "What? I haven't done anything!"

"Look at the state of her!" Lily said "I really don't think it's a coincidence that every time she's around you, Black, she ends up in tears."

Sirius opened his mouth to retort but Erica cut in before he could start flinging insults at her friend. "No, Lily, he didn't do anything. Really," she added at the look of disbelief on Lily's face. "He found me like this and he was just being nice."

Lily narrowed her eyes at the both of them before grabbing Erica's wrist and dragging her off towards the portrait hole. Once they were inside, she pulled Erica to a dark corner of the common room before turning to her and asking, "Are you sure he didn't do anything to you?"

"Yes!" Erica said, starting to get exasperated. "Like I said, I kind of freaked out a little – I'm sorry about that, by the way – and he found me like that. None of it was his fault, I promise."

"So what, he decided to walk you back to the common room out of the goodness of his heart?" Lily asked, still looking a little skeptical.

"Yeah, I guess," Erica replied. She knew Sirius was a bit of a twat but Lily was really going overboard with this.

Lily scoffed at that and muttered, "Like he even has a heart." Erica couldn't help rolling her eyes as she walked past her friend, heading up the stairs to the girls' dormitory. "Hey, wait!" Lily called after her, following her up to their shared bedroom "What did you freak out about, anyways? It was so weird, it was like you got one look at those glasses and just took off. We weren't sure if we had offended you somehow."

"No, you guys didn't do anything," Erica said, sorting through her trunk so Lily wouldn't see the panicked look on her face as she tried to come up with a lie quickly. "It's just that… my mother had glasses like those. And I've been trying not to think about any of that since the Quidditch match, you know, but it all come rushing back to me."

"Oh, Erica," Lily whispered, rushing at her and pulling her into a tight hug. "I'm sorry."

Erica's eyes widened in surprise and she patted Lily on the back before quickly breaking from the embrace. "Thanks, Lily."

Lily looked at her friend sadly and asked, "Do you want to talk about it?"

Erica shook her head. "No, I'm fine. Actually, Sirius helped a lot earlier."

"Black… helped you?" Lily asked, looking completely baffled. "I thought he hated you."

Erica shrugged as she got into bed. "Maybe he's bipolar."

Lily laughed and said, "That wouldn't surprise me."

"Whoa," James said, as Sirius stormed into the dormitory and slammed the door behind him. "What's crawled up your arse?"

Sirius glared at him. "Your girlfriend needs a muzzle."

James smirked. He didn't know how it was possible but Sirius always seemed to annoy Evans even more than he did. "What'd you do this time?"

"I didn't do anything!" Sirius practically shouted. "Just because I was walking back to Gryffindor tower with Erica doesn't mean that I did something to her!"

Remus, who had been trying to ignore his two friends so he could study Transfiguration, decided to step in. "There must be something you're not telling us, Padfoot."

Sirius groaned and threw himself on his bed. "Not you too, Moony."

"Well, I mean, if you look at it logically," Remus said, trying not to smirk at Sirius's reaction, "Lily wouldn't have gotten angry if she simply saw the two of you walking together without fighting. She might have been a little surprised, I'm sure we all would have been had we seen that, but she wouldn't have done anything that required you to think she needs a muzzle."

"Oh fine," Sirius sighed. "Erica was crying, but not because of anything I did to her!"

James looked at his friend in disappointment. "Sirius, you promised you'd be nice to her."

"I was being nice to her!" Sirius said, throwing his hands up in exasperation.

"Well, what was wrong with her then?" James asked.

"Who knows," Sirius muttered. "The girl belongs in one of those locked wards for the mentally unsound at St. Mungo's." They looked at him expectantly and he groaned again. "Look, I was walking back from the owlery when she ran by me and puked in that orange vase by the tapestry of Cliodna and then locked herself in a broom cupboard. So I went to see what was wrong with her and she was having some kind of panic attack or something… so I slapped her."

James scoffed. "Oh yeah, Padfoot, you were a perfect gentlemen, weren't you?"

"Well, it wasn't like I hit her hard! And it made her stop hyperventilating! She even thanked me for it," Sirius shot back, getting more than a little annoyed with James. Why was he being so protective of this stupid girl?

"Why would she do that?" Peter asked.

"Because she's fucking loony, Wormtail, that's why," Sirius responded.

"Did you ever find out why she was freaking out?" James asked, clearly worried about Erica. He knew something really bad must have happened to make her react like that.

"It was hard to make anything out, she was crying so damn much," Sirius said, feeling a little bad about lying to his friends. "But I waited for her to calm down and I brought her back. And that is all that happened!"

Remus looked surprised. "You mean you actually managed to be around her for five minutes without accusing her of something? I'm impressed." Peter sniggered but stopped at the glare Sirius gave him.

"Yes, well, it was difficult but I managed," Sirius spat out sarcastically. The room fell silent after that. Peter drew the curtains around his bed while Remus went back to reading his Transfiguration text. James was watching him with a shrewd expression on his face and it made him slightly uncomfortable. "What?" he asked, raising an eyebrow at his friend.

"I think you like her," James said suddenly. Remus looked up from his book and watched his two friends in interest. "You like her a lot more than you want to and that's why you're so mean to her."

Sirius laughed. "You're a lot dumber than you look, Prongs."

"It's not dumb!" James said, seeming to get more sure of himself the more he thought about it. "It makes perfect sense. You like her but you don't know anything about her and that means she holds all the cards. And you don't like that because you're used to being in control in all of your relationships. So you're mean to her. Merlin, I can't believe I didn't realize this before!"

Sirius rolled his eyes. "Psychotherapy isn't a career you should look into, James."

James turned to Remus to back him up. "Doesn't it make sense, Moony?"

Before Remus could reply, Peter stuck his head through his bed curtains and said, "Do you think you three could quit gossiping like a bunch of old biddies? I'm trying to sleep here!"

Sirius shared and amused look with James before flicking his wand. Suddenly, Peter was hanging upside down in the air as if a rope were holding him up by his right ankle. "Why don't you try sleeping like that?" he asked as James and Remus roared with laughter.

* * *

**A/N:** I'm sorry it's taking me so long to update. A lot has happened in the past six months but I won't bore you guys with the extremely long story but… turns out, being an adult kind of sucks and doesn't leave me with a lot of time to write. Thanks for the reviews of the last chapter! It was nice coming back and seeing those. I hope you guys like this one as well. I'm almost done with eleven, hopefully I will be able to post it soon but I can't make any promises. Sorry :(


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

Erica decided that she was going to avoid Sirius for the next few days. She wasn't sure she would be able to maintain her sanity during another encounter with him, especially if he decided that he hated her again. She skipped breakfast and went straight to the library, sitting in a dark corner full of dusty History of Magic books that no one frequented. She had her Potions book spread out in front of her, trying to make sense of Golpalott's Third Law and failing spectacularly. Not only was it probably one of the last nice days of the year, the skies were a clear light blue and many students were trying to soak up what were probably the last warm bits of sunshine, but she couldn't stop thinking about what she had discovered the night before. She was a little surprised that she hadn't picked up on it sooner. It had been a little obvious from the start that James was Harry Potter's father, his age fit and he looked so much like the Boy Who Lived that it had made befriending him feel really strange. Her first reaction had been to push him off, stay as far away from him and affecting that as possible, but he was just so damn charming that it was impossible to not like him. But she had no idea how he'd manage to show Lily that side of him.

And Lily… Lily had become one of her closest friends. Erica had foolishly hoped that she would be able to find Lily when she got back to her own time, whenever that happened, so that she could explain everything. Knowing that this was impossible, that her friend might die in five short years, made her seriously reconsider following the rules that Dumbledore had set up for her. She didn't think she would be able to live with herself if she let something that awful happen to someone as good as Lily. She wasn't even sure she was doing the right thing by not warning anyone of the tragic events that she knew would happen. But then she remembered the reason for all of Dumbledore's rules, there was a distinct possibility of making everything worse that came along with trying to mess with the past. It was a strange dilemma, deciding if her friend should get to live at the expense of everyone else, and she wished that she had someone she could talk to, someone that wasn't Dumbledore and his infuriatingly strong opposition to changing anything, someone that knew her secret and wouldn't judge her for wavering.

Needless to say, she wasn't actually getting a lot of work done. She sat and watched the day go by out the lonely window in her isolated corner, making an extensive pros and cons list in her head. It was hard remembering that she wasn't the only student in the library that day so she practically jumped a mile when James appeared from behind a bookcase.

"There you are," he whispered, smiling down at her.

"Here I am," she said, trying to smile back, although it ended up looking more like a grimace.

He sat down next to her and made a face at her homework. "You do realize that isn't due until next week, right?"

"You do realize that it will take me that long to understand all of this rubbish, right?" she replied, her words dripping with sarcasm.

James rolled his eyes. "Honestly, it's really not that hard. I could help you with –"

She interrupted him. "I am not getting down on my knees and begging for your help again, Potter."

He smiled sheepishly at that, scratching the back of his neck as he replied, "Actually, I need to ask you for a favor."

Erica laughed at that, the sound seeming louder after enduring the silence of the library for so long. "Oh, this should be good."

"Oh, don't look so pleased with yourself," James said, frowning. "I'm not about to get on my knees or anything. I just need you to keep Lily out of the common room for a couple hours tonight."

Erica looked at him in confusion. "Why?"

He scratched the back of his neck as he answered, "It's Sirius's seventeenth birthday and Remus, Peter and I wanted to have a proper celebration. She'd throw a fit if we tried to start a party while she was in there but if there is already one in full swing, then there's not much she can do about it, right?"

Erica had to resist rolling her eyes at him. "And why would I want to do something nice for Black?" she asked, remembering his bad attitude towards her and everything she did all too well.

James frowned at her. "Come on, Erica," he said. "Sirius has always had really shitty birthdays, his family sees to that, so we need to make this one good. It's the most important one, after all."

Erica couldn't believe that she actually felt bad for Sirius at his words. The boy was an unbelievable pain in her ass but he did deserve to have a decent birthday, especially since he was a legal wizard now. Erica sighed and said, "Fine. I'll keep Lily out of the common room."

"Thank you," he said, smiling at her as if he knew she was going to agree this whole time. It kind of made her want to punch him, but she was able to contain herself.

"Don't mention it," she muttered as she started to pack her things up. She wasn't going to finish her homework any time soon so she might as well get dinner before starting her new James Potter-sponsored mission. James fell into step with her as she left the library and she couldn't help feeling a little apprehensive. What else did he want?

"So, I heard you had a pretty rough night last night," he said, looking at her sympathetically.

She stopped short, looking at him in horror. It felt like someone had doused her in ice water and her head was filled with conflicting emotions. She couldn't believe she had actually told all of that Sirius Black of all people. Of course he would have told everyone what she said, how could she have expected anything different? Still, she couldn't deny how incredibly disappointed she felt when she realized he was not the person she thought he was. She tried to keep her face blank, ready to deny anything Sirius had told James, as she asked, "What did you hear?"

James shrugged. "Just that you were really freaked out about something."

"Okay," she said, narrowing her eyes at him, trying to gauge just how much he knew.

He sighed and ran his hand through his already messy hair. "Look, the point I'm trying to make here is that if you ever need someone to talk to, I'm here."

Erica couldn't stop the smile that spread across her face at his words. "I know," she said, incredibly pleased that he still wanted to be his friend despite whatever Sirius had told him.

"Remember," he said once they reached the Great Hall, "you've got to keep her out of there until at least nine, alright?"

Erica rolled her eyes. "I said I'd do it," she reminded him, hoping he would stop pestering her about it. She scanned the Gryffindor table, hoping to find one of her friends, but her eyes seemed to zero in on Sirius Black sitting with the rest of the Marauders. He looked up soon after that, the way he always seemed to do whenever she found herself staring at him, and she had to look away before he spotted the embarrassed flush on her cheeks. Finally, she spotted Lily sitting at the far end of the Gryffindor table and went to sit with her, getting really annoyed at how aware her body was of Sirius as she passed him.

She didn't notice that James had continued to follow her instead of sitting with his friends. "Alright, Evans?" he asked brightly as he sat down across from her.

Lily sighed in annoyance before turning to Erica. "I'll meet you in the library in an hour, okay?"

Erica looked at her in confusion. She had no desire to go back to the library, having spent more than enough time there to last a couple weeks. "For what?" she asked.

Lily rolled her eyes at her friend. "To start studying for the Charms exam," she replied.

Erica groaned. "I forgot all about that."

James looked between the two of them in horror. "That's not until Friday! You don't need to start studying now. Merlin, Evans, you _are_a bad influence."

"That's funny, Potter, considering I could say the same about you," Lily said, looked at him in annoyance. She turned to Erica and asked, "Are you going to be there or not?"

Erica nodded. "But do you think we could study outside instead? It looked so nice out and I don't think I can handle the library any more today." It was true, she was pretty sure she was going to deck Madam Pince if she had to listen to her rant on about how the students had no respect for the written word one more time that day.

Lily raised an eyebrow at her but James was the one to explain. "Yeah, you should have seen her earlier, Evans. Sitting in some dark corner surrounded by all of the Potions books the library has. It was quite pathetic, actually." Erica frowned and punched his shoulder as hard as she could. "Ow!" he said, turning to glare at her.

Lily's lips twitched, as if she were trying to fight a smile, as she said, "That's fine." Then she got up and left the Great Hall.

James was beaming as he watched her go and Erica couldn't figure out why. "What, do you think you've made some kind of progress with her?"

"Well you saw her," he said, looking much like the cat that ate the canary. "She was trying not to smile at that last thing I said."

Erica didn't want to laugh, knowing it would probably hurt his feelings, but she couldn't help herself. "You have a lot to learn about girls, James Potter."

He sighed as he started to pile food on his plate. "I know." He looked so upset that Erica instantly regretted bringing it up. He ate his food quietly, looking deep in thought as he stared resolutely at the table, and Erica was glad when his friends came to join them. Although, she wished Sirius would have stayed at the other end of the Gryffindor table.

"Prongs, did you just have a conversation with Evans that didn't turn into a screaming match?" Sirius asked, smirking as he sat down next to Erica. He wasn't even that close to her, no parts of them were touching, but her heart rate seemed to increase exponentially as soon as he was near her.

"I suppose," James muttered, trying to hide his annoyance with the redhead from his friends.

"It's a miracle!" Peter said loudly, drawing a ridiculous amount of attention to the group. "An early Christmas miracle!"

Erica rolled her eyes at the two of them, deciding to ignore their antics. "Hello Remus," she said quietly to the sickly looking boy who was watching his friends in amusement.

He smiled back at her. "Hello," he replied.

Erica was about to ask if he was feeling alright, he looked pretty awful, when she heard James gasp. She turned to see him staring at her in a strange way, as if he had never looked at her properly before. The blood rushed to her face and she was starting to feel really uncomfortable when she asked, "What? Why are you staring at me like that?"

"I've had a brilliant idea!" he announced.

Erica wasn't sure she wanted to hear whatever it was but when he didn't explain further, she asked, "And what is it?"

"Well, you said I have a lot to learn about girls," James explained. "Particularly our dear friend, Lily. And you are a girl –"

"You've just noticed this now?" Erica asked, feeling a little put out. She knew she wasn't as gorgeous as, say, Cassidy Wilson, but she had hoped that the fact that she was female was quite obvious.

James ignored her, continuing as if she hadn't interrupted, "So you can teach me!"

Erica rolled her eyes. "I don't think that's such a good idea."

James looked as if she had just kicked his puppy. "Why not?" He was looking at her with big, sad eyes and Erica knew she would end up giving in eventually. She still put up a fight, though, shaking her head quickly before looking down at her half-eaten dinner. "Oh, come on!" James said, trying to hold in a smile. He could tell she just needed a little pushing to agree.

Sirius sighed as he butted in. "Leave her alone, Prongs. It is a fantastically bad idea."

James scowled at his friend. "No, it's not," he muttered.

Erica looked over at Sirius, extremely grateful he had stepped in. She knew that James would end up with Lily but she didn't think she wanted to be the one that pushed them together. She didn't think she would be able to live with herself if she knew she had pushed them along the road that would soon get them killed. He was ignoring her, though. "Are you almost done?" he asked James impatiently. "Madam Rosmerta is waiting for us."

"More like you're waiting for her," Remus replied, smiling at his best friend. "You're not going to spend the whole time hounding after her again, are you?"

"Oh, I am legal this year," Sirius pointed out. "She has no reason to turn me down now."

Peter snorted. "Like that's the reason why she's turned you down all these years."

Erica laughed along with the rest of them, although she wasn't in a very good mood anymore. She had been trying her best to ignore Sirius, not wanting to somehow unintentionally provoke him into insulting her again but the fact that he was acting like she wasn't there was starting to make her angry. She had opened up to him last night, told him things that she hadn't shared with anyone, and now he wouldn't even look at her. And she liked Madam Rosmerta, she had always been so nice to her and her friends every time they had gone to the Three Broomsticks in her own time, but now she found that she wouldn't have minded very much if the woman drowned in a vat of butterbeer. It was all Sirius, he was messing with her, driving her clinically insane and she didn't think she could take much more of it. She pushed her half-eaten dinner away from her before saying, "I'd better go before Lily attempts to murder me with her Charms textbook."

Sirius nodded, not even looking at her, and she couldn't help but frown when she realized that that was all she was going to get out of him. Remus and Peter both bade her goodbye while James childishly ignored her. "Right," she said, feeling extremely awkward as she stood up. "Bye!"

She was half way out of the hall when she heard James yell, "Just think it over, Costello!"

She could feel the eyes of practically everyone in the Great Hall looking her way, wondering what it was that James Potter wanted the new girl to think over. She turned back and laughed at him, making sure he could see as she shook her head. "Not going to happen, Potter!" she shouted back before turning and heading up to the Gryffindor common room.

Erica expected Lily to be waiting for her outside the common room, impatiently tapping her foot in the way she always did when she had to wait for someone, or maybe even doing some homework of her own, but she was nowhere to be found. Erica checked the common room, even looking in the dark corners that were usually reserved for hormone-crazed couples, and the dormitory, but no Lily. She was sure she had asked Lily to meet her in the common room, but she might have been mistaken. She went to the library and searched the stacks for what felt like hours but there was no sign of Lily, and to make matters worse, the redhead was still nowhere to be found when she finally got back to the common room. Erica sighed, a little upset that she would have to study for Charms by herself now. She grabbed her books from the dormitory, still feeling extremely pleased when Cassidy Wilson hurriedly closed her bed curtains as soon as she spotted Erica, and then sat herself down outside the common room, right next to the portrait of the fat lady. It would take some quick talking but she was determined to keep Lily outside the common room until everything was clear.

She had been ready to give up for the night, the party sounding incredibly tempting, when she finally spotted her friend walking down the hallways towards her. She stood up, ready to reprimand her friend for making her wait but stopped when she noticed the tear tracks flowing down her face. "Lily!" she said, immediately grabbing her friend and pulling her into a hug. "What's wrong?"

"It's awful, Erica!" Lily said, her voice hoarse from all the crying she had done. "Jenn's parents were killed by Death Eaters!"

"What?" Erica asked, completely shocked. "How do you know? What happened?"

Lily laid her head on her shoulder as she replied, "I was talking to Jenn in the Great Hall right after I left dinner when Professor McGonnagall came up and said she needed to speak with her. We could just tell by the look on McGonnagall's face that something was wrong, so she kind of clamped on to me and before I knew what was happening, she was leading the both of us up to Professor Dumbledore's office. I guess they were out to lunch at some wizarding pub in Diagon Alley called _Potions_ when they were attacked; the Death Eathers killed everyone there!" Erica felt herself go stiff, but she recovered quickly and hoped her friend hadn't noticed. She had remembered hearing about the attack on the famous wizarding pub. The place had gone out of business soon afterwards and the building was still abandoned, no one had wanted to dine with the ghosts of the massacre, but the legend of Voldemort and his followers' brutality had lived on. She remembered reading about it after the Dark Lord's return, how he had killed everyone in the restaurant, staff and customers, just to kill the head of Magical Law Enforcement, who liked to dine there on his days off. It felt like a giant boulder had been added to the weight already on her back, more bodies added to the count that she could have prevented if she only tried. She tried to force that out of her mind, though, and focused on her red-haired friend, who was still semi-hysterical as she tried to explain what happened, "- and then Dumbledore made her go and stay with her little brother at her uncle's house while they worked out the funeral arrangements. I felt horrible! She was completely wrecked and there was absolutely nothing I could do about it!" She broke out in sobs and seemed to cling even tighter to her friend.

"I'm sure the fact that you were there helped her immensely," Erica replied. She wasn't exactly sure what to do so she let Lily cry herself out on her shoulder, occasionally patting her back when the sobs seemed like they were about to get out of control.

Finally, after what seemed like hours, her friend pulled away and started to frantically wipe at her eyes. "Come on," she said, leading her friend towards the portrait hole. "I need a drink."

Erica stopped trying to get between her friend and the portrait hole and stared at her in shock. "What are you talking about?"

Lily sighed in annoyance. "I know it's Sirius's birthday. Every year, Potter and his stupid buddies throw a party in the common room and every year, they just expect me to completely forget about it. I tried stopping it last year but there's really no use, and besides, I could really go for a butterbeer right now."

Erica was a little shocked at Lily's behavior but simply shrugged it off and followed her into the noisy, packed common room. She knew it was a little unhealthy, but she agreed with her friend, the burn of the alcohol erasing what she had just learned would greatly help at the moment.

* * *

"I still can't believe it!" Sirius said, looking annoyed as he and James crawled out of the hump of the one-eyed witch statue, joining Remus and Peter in the empty corridor.

"Still won't go out with you?" Peter asked, knowing Sirius's bad mood had something to do with the curvy blonde that ran the _Three__Broomsticks_. He had stayed by the one-eyed witch in the invisibility cloak keeping watch while the three of them had gone into Hogsmeade. Now he did his best to cover the three of them and the large case of butterbeer they had nicked from the basement while Sirius had tried to distract Madam Rosmerta. Naturally, he had used that time to try and charm her into a date, although it apparently didn't work out.

"No!" Sirius said, glaring at his friend. "Can you believe she said she doesn't date students?"

"Tough luck, mate," Peter said, clapping Sirius on the back before trying to decide best route back to the common room, particularly one where there weren't many people around to bump into the three invisible boys.

Sirius shot an annoyed look at Peter before stooping down, the three boys were now too tall to be under the invisibility cloak at the same time, and following Peter down the deserted hallway. "I even mentioned it was my birthday –"

"I told you that wouldn't work, Padfoot," James laughed, interrupting him

Peter laughed, "Yeah, and James speaks from many years of experience."'

"Hey," James said, coming to his own defense. "I have a better chance with Evans than he does with Rosmerta!"

His three friends stopped momentarily, wearing looks of extreme confusion. "But she _hates_ you," Sirius pointed out.

"That's right," James said. "And hate is a passionate emotion, which means that Lily is passionate about me."

Sirius couldn't help laughing at that while Peter just looked even more confused as he held up a tapestry that would lead them to a hidden staircase. "James," Remus said gently, as if he were trying to console his friend, "I'm not sure that it works like that."

James sighed. "Look, the opposite of love isn't hate, it's indifference. So while Lily may hate me now, at least she thinks about me enough to create such a passionate emotion. Madam Rosmerta probably hasn't given Sirius a spare thought since he left tonight."

Sirius rolled his eyes. "Well at least I got Rosmerta to give me a birthday present. When's the last time Lily and her passionate emotions got anything for you?"

James only frowned at his friend while Remus and Peter laughed. "You didn't tell us that she gave you something," Remus said.

"I'll show you in a second," Sirius said, nodding toward the end of the hallways, where the portrait of the fat lady was waiting.

As they got closer, they noticed Erica sitting outside the portrait hole. Peter greeted her before saying the password. She simply smiled at him and whispered a quick, "All clear," as Remus, James and Sirius climbed awkwardly inside. The common room was more crowded than usual for the late hour, word of the party had spread fast, so they dumped the large case on a table near the back of the room. While they were still under the invisibilty cloak, Sirius reached into the pocket of his cloak and pulled out three small bottles of firewhiskey.

"She just gave those to you?" James asked, looking at the firewhiskey in awe.

Sirius smirked as he said, "I know it may be shocking to you, James, but some of us are actually quite good at charming–"

James laughed and shoved his friend. "Piss off, Padfoot." Then he quickly removed the invisibility cloak before calling attention to themselves and the incredibly large case of butterbeer they had brought with them, letting everyone know that the party had begun.

After the crowd of well-wishers, and those wanting a drink, around them had dissipated, Sirius spent a good majority of the time sitting in a corner with the rest of the Marauders and quite a few of the sixth and seventh year Gryffindor girls. He was pretty sure he'd even seen girls from other houses as well, but that might have been the large amount of alcohol he had imbibed. James and he had drank most of one of the bottles of firewhiskey, while Peter, ever the lightweight, had passed out in a corner armchair after only a couple sips. Remus did what he always did at a party, which was simply sit back and observe. He never seemed to partake in the partying, instead choosing to take care of his friends after they had stupidly drank too much. James, of course, was moaning to him about Evans, much like he always did when he had a little bit too much alcohol in him, although Remus didn't seem to be paying attention to him. Sirius had managed to ignore his friends for the most part, instead spending much of the time talking to the girls, except they had disappeared after he had rudely brushed Cassidy Wilson off when she tried to drunkenly throw herself at him. It wasn't that he minded all that much, the girls that had spent most of the night crowded around him weren't exactly ones he would have chosen to spend a drunken night with, but he found it a little annoying in the way they all seemed to do whatever the bitchy brunette told them to do.

After being forced to listen to his friend recount a particularly nasty incident he had with Lily the year before, he was pretty sure he was going to punch him for being so pathetic, drunk or not. "Come on, Prongs," he groaned, frustration evident in his voice. "Why don't you just move on from Evans already? I'm sure there are plenty of girls that'd be willing to help you out."

James frowned. "Ugh, don't remind me of those girls," he said, thinking of the ones that had just been swarming around them. "Their desperation is so off-putting."

Sirius smirked. "I don't know, I kind of like it."

"Bullocks," James spat out before taking another large swig of the firewhiskey.

Sirius raised an eyebrow at his friend, surprised by his strong reaction. Remus was the one to explain, "You always did complain about how much Cassidy Wilson annoyed you when you were dating her, and most of those girls are her minions."

"I never said I liked dating them," he pointed out.

"Then why haven't you paid any attention to them this year?" James asked.

Sirius furrowed his brow. "I didn't realize you were that interested in my sex life, Prongs." James smirked and started to say something, but then his face dropped as he spotted Lily Evans climbing in the portrait hole.

Remus turned to see what James was looking at and cursed. She looked upset enough already, her eyes were red and puffy and her cheeks were wet with tears, and it only seemed to intensify when she spotted the bottle of firewhiskey in James's hand. "This isn't going to be good," he muttered.

James hid the bottle behind his back but it was too late. She was already making her way through the crowded room toward him, Erica following her with an anxious look on her face. Once she reached them, Lily said, "You know you can't have that on school grounds, Potter. I mean, you're not even seventeen."

"But it's a party, Evans! Sirius, here," James gestured to his friend, his words slurring together, "just turned –"

Lily cut him off, "You know I have to confiscate it, so why don't you just shut up before you say something stupid and give it to me?"

A few of the people around them, including Sirius and Remus, snickered at that. James simply scowled and handed her the bottle. They then watched in shock as Lily studied the bottle for a moment before shrugging her shoulders and chugging what was left of it. She made a face while she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and put the empty bottle down on a table near them. "Happy birthday, Sirius," she said before turning and running up the stairs to the girls' dormitory.

"Did that just happen or am I so drunk that I'm starting to hallucinate?" James asked after a few moments of stunned silence.

"Sorry," Erica said. "I kept her out for as long as I could."

She turned to follow her friend up the stairs but Remus stopped her. "Wait a second! Is everything alright?"

She turned back to look at them and Sirius noticed that her eyes were red as well, although not nearly as bad as Lily's. She bit her lip before shaking her head quickly. "There was an attack earlier today in Diagon Alley. Jenn's parents were killed." And then she turned and ran up the stairs before they could question her further.

The four boys sat in an awkward silence, the happy feeling from the party having completely left them. Sirius shook his head. That girl really knew how to ruin a good time. Remus turned toward the window and his mouth dropped open in surprise. "Padfoot, isn't that your family's owl?" he asked, nodding towards the window.

Sirius turned and saw the all too familiar grey and white coat of the owl that belonged to his mother. "Great," he muttered as he noticed the letter it had tied around its leg. This night was definitely taking a turn for the worst.

* * *

**A/N:** I actually have a few chapters of this story stockpiled as well. I was going to wait until I finished _Impossible_ to start posting them but... I decided not to, haha. Once again, sorry it takes me forever to update but I really do love everyone that's kept up with this story. Please review and let me know what you think!


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

Sirius couldn't believe that his mother would pull something like this. Well, actually, he could. But surely there was some kind of law against keeping his own inheritance from him. It was also hard swallowing the fact that Regulus had known all this time as well and hadn't said anything to him about it. The letter had been from his mother, stating that now that he was of age, she was legally obligated to tell him that his uncle Alphred, who he vaguely remembered from family parties when he was very young, had died and left him everything. It shouldn't have been a shock, considering it had happened five months ago, but this was the first time he had heard about it. Then again, he hadn't been in contact with anyone from his family since he left at the beginning of the summer holidays so maybe he shouldn't be as surprised as he was. It was just a hard pill to swallow on his seventeenth birthday, the fact that he really didn't have any family left. Sure, his parents and brother were still alive, but it didn't matter. They obviously didn't care about him. He felt like an orphan and although this estrangement from his family was infinitely better than actually having to be around them, the realization still made him feel incredibly lonely.

He wrestled with these thoughts as he snuck back into Hogwarts. His first reaction after reading the letter had been to leave the common room as quickly as he could. Luckily, his friends completely understood, although James had looked a little upset that Sirius's mother had somehow managed to ruin another birthday. He raced down to the grounds as quickly as he could, not even caring if he got caught, and raced over to the tree line of the forest. It was there that he transformed into Padfoot, despite the fact that the moon was nowhere near full. It was just so much easier being a dog at that moment, not having to deal with that strange mixture of disgust, disappointment and betrayal that he always felt when he thought about his family. He ran through the Forbidden Forest, not caring about what he might run into. He was actually itching for a fight after receiving that horrible note but he didn't run into anyone or anything. Finally, after what felt like hours, he felt exhausted and knew that it was time to turn back into a human. It had been nice avoiding his feelings but now it was time to face them, although hopefully he would be able to pass out soon and avoid it for a few more hours.

Fortunately, Filch hadn't realized that he had forgotten to lock the front door again and Sirius was ready to sneak back up to his dormitory. He heard it as he was passing the open doors to the Great Hall, a soft voice singing a song he wasn't familiar with, although it was very faint. It seemed to be coming from inside the giant room, though, and he decided to check it out. He followed the sound until it became louder and that was when he noticed her, the new girl, laying down across one of the benches at the Gryffindor table and looking up at the ceiling, which was bewitched to look like the starry sky outside, while she continued to sing that strange song. One of the bottles of firewhiskey that he had gotten from Madam Rosmerta was laying underneath the bench, which would explain why she hadn't heard him walking up to her, and he couldn't help rolling his eyes. He knew he should walk away, he suddenly felt too tired to fight with anyone, but there was just something about this girl that was so hard to ignore. "Nice song," he said loudly, interrupting her

Her reaction was a little delayed due to the alcohol but she jumped in surprise and then almost fell off the bench. She turned to glare at him as she said, "What the hell, Black? You scared me half to death!"

Sirius smirked and muttered, "Wouldn't that be a sight to see." She rolled her eyes at him. "What song was that?" he asked curiously.

"You don't know it," she retorted, clearly still annoyed that he had snuck up on her. "It's from a muggle band."

Sirius made a face at that. "I like muggle music."

She looked at him in confusion. "What?"

He sat down on the bench across from her and leaned back to look up at the stars as well. "There's a record store around the corner from my parent's place in London. I used to go in there a lot over the holidays to listen to music and then sing it around the house to piss my mum off. I really liked this one band, The Rolling Stones. They always seemed to upset her the fastest." Erica laughed at that and Sirius could feel himself grinning, happy that he been able to make her smile. She had looked so sad earlier. Then he shook his head, clearly confused. He didn't know why it mattered to him if she was upset or not. In fact, he was positive that it didn't. He cleared his throat loudly and said, "So what was that?"

The smile fell off her face when she answered, "I don't even know. It was my brother Jake's favorite, though. He played it all the time, but I never asked what it was."

She was quiet, then, which made Sirius feel really nervous for some reason. "You're not going to start crying again, are you?" he asked warily.

She shot him a sharp look. "No," she muttered, crossing her arms across her chest.

"Good," he replied. "I don't think I could handle that again."

She seemed to take offense to that. "Then why do you keep following me around? I mean, you don't have to keep talking to me if you hate me that much."

She turned to glare at him and he felt like he was stuck in her gaze. Her dark green eyes seemed to erase everything else in his mind and it took him a moment to remember what he was doing. He was sure that his hesitation had given him away, that she could somehow see just how much of a strange pull she had on him, so he tried to recover by smirking and saying, "I told you. I promised James I'd be nice to you."

"And what a bang up job you're doing," she muttered, turning back to stare at the stars.

"Sorry," he found himself saying, although he wasn't quite sure why. "It's just so hard being nice to you sometimes."

"Can't you just ignore me then?" Erica asked. "Doesn't that count as being nice?"

"I can't," he whispered before he could stop himself. He turned to look up at the night sky, even though he could feel her eyes on his face. He had definitely given too much away that time and he was not going to let that conversation continue.

Erica seemed to pick up on that too because she asked, "What are you doing here, anyways? Shouldn't you be upstairs celebrating your birthday with your friends?"

He shrugged his shoulders. "Didn't really feel like partying anymore," he muttered.

"What happened?" she asked curiously.

Sirius turn to look at her, ready to tell her to piss off because it was none of her business, but found himself lost in her eyes again. Before he even realized what he was doing, he answered, "I got this letter from my mother, all about how she was legally obligated to tell me that my uncle died and left me everything. Which is not so bad, except he died five months ago and this is the first I've heard about it."

Erica frowned. "I'm sorry. Were you close with him?"

He shook his head. "He was burned off the family tree when I was eight for sympathizing with muggle-borns. I haven't talked to him since."

"Oh," Erica said. Her gaze moved from his face back up to the ceiling, making it clear that she didn't know how to respond to that.

Sirius couldn't help smirking at that. "Yeah. So like I said, I'm not really in the partying mood."

"Me either," she replied.

"Yeah," Sirius said, remembering exactly what she had said at the party. "Do you know how Morrison is doing?"

Erica shrugged. "Lily said she was a wreck when McGonnagal made her leave. Lily's really upset too but I just… couldn't take it anymore. Hits a little too close to home, I guess."

He nodded. They sat in silence then, one that was not entirely awkward but Sirius still felt like he should break it somehow. "So do you mind if I hide out here with you?"

Erica smiled at him, a smile that made his heart feel like it was going to jump out of his chest, and passed him the half-full bottle of firewhiskey. "Not at all," she replied.

He knew that it was more than he deserved, he had basically just admitted that he enjoyed following her around and being an obnoxious prat, but he was still extremely happy that she hadn't turned him away. He took a sip of the burning liquid before lying down on the bench he was sitting on, mirroring what Erica was doing on the bench across the walkway from him. "Sing that song again," he requested, and laughed at the embarrassed look she gave him. "What? I liked it."

She shook her head, feeling the blush spreading up her neck to her face, all too aware of the fact that Sirius was looking at her. "No way," she muttered, trying to calm herself down. They sat in silence then, both watching the stars projected on the high ceiling, slowly passing the bottle back and forth. It wasn't until much later that Erica realized she had been humming that familiar melody.

The strange truce that Erica and Sirius had reached in the Great Hall continued into the weeks that followed. He wasn't actually friendly or anything but Erica could live with the fact that he had at least been civil. She found it a lot easier to become friends with the rest of the marauders as well when Sirius wasn't constantly accusing her of being a liar. Things with Lily weren't going quite as smoothly. With Jenn gone, she spent a lot more time with Erica and, consequently, the Marauders. Erica could tell that their immaturity was starting to wear on her, though, by the fact that she wanted to dedicate more time of their time together studying Charms in the library. It was extremely hard, too, because they were both worried about Jenn. They had no idea how she was doing or if she ever planned on coming back to Hogwarts. They had only received one letter from her in the days leading up to Christmas, an incredibly short one that she had sent the night of the funeral. She didn't answer any of their other letters, though, and they decided to leave her alone after that.

The two girls were sitting in the girls' dormitory, packing Lily's things so she could take the train home for the Christmas holidays in the morning. "Oh, I wish I could stay at Hogwarts like you!" Lily said as she struggled to close the lid of her trunk on all of the spellbooks she had packed.

Erica cracked a smile at her friend. "It won't be that bad," she said, trying not to let the jealousy seep into her voice. She knew that the first Christmas after losing her mum would be hard, but she didn't know it would be this bad. She had already signed up to stay at Hogwarts and she had noticed that not many other students had put their names down. The only consolation prize was the fact that she would be able to deal with all this pain by herself.

Still, she would have changed places with her friend in a heartbeat.

"You don't know my sister," Lily replied.

"That's true," Erica smirked. She had never met Lily's sister and she really had no desire to after all the crazy stories Lily had told her. The girl sounded certifiable, and she was sure the upcoming wedding only made it worse.

Lily finally managed to snap the trunk shut and laid back on the bed, sighing in frustration. "I can just picture it now. Two straight weeks of hearing about _Vernon_ and _the wedding_, I'm sure it will drive me mad. And that, of course, will be mixed in with her ignoring me for days simply because she's still jealous that I'm a witch and she's not."

"Do you really think that's where all the animosity comes from?" Erica asked curiously. She didn't think it was possible for a person to be that petty, but then again, she had never met Petunia Evans.

"I think so," Lily replied, although she didn't sound quite so sure. "I thought maybe meeting Vernon would change that but she still hates my guts."

"I'm sure she doesn't hate your guts," Erica said as she sat down on her own bed. She couldn't imagine how anyone could hate Lily, the girl was one of the sweetest, most genuine people she had ever met.

Lily sighed again before changing the subject. "Are you nervous about staying here?"

Erica nodded. "I've never not been with my family for Christmas." It was a relief that she was able to talk about this, how horrible she felt being stuck at Hogwarts by herself for Christmas, truthfully with her friend. It felt like she always had to come up with some lame excuse for her freak-outs when it came to Lily. And it was true, she did feel awful about being at Hogwarts for the holidays. She had always spent them with her entire family, her older brothers making sure they were able to come home for at least a couple days because of their mum. Christmas had been her favorite holiday and she often went completely overboard, decorating the house to the point where it looked like some kind of Christmas theme park and making everyone participate in ridiculous Christmas activities, like caroling around the neighborhood. The past couple years, Erica had dreaded the holidays simply because of her mother's exuberance and she regretted that more than ever now. She would do anything to have her mum drag her around the neighborhood, singing cheesy muggle tunes.

Lily's eyes were full of sympathy and Erica avoided looking into them. "I'm sorry. I wish Dumbledore had let you come to my place for the break."

Erica's head snapped up. "What?" she asked. This was the first time she had heard about this.

Lily's face was pink with embarrassment. "Sorry," she muttered, rubbing the back of her neck. "I asked Dumbledore if you could stay with me over break but he didn't think it was a good idea. I wasn't going to say anything since he said no but, well… I just did."

Erica could feel her heart squeezing her chest. She couldn't believe Lily would do that, invite Erica into her home, when they had only met three months ago. It was probably the nicest thing anyone had ever done for her. At the same time, it only seemed to reaffirm the fact that she was the worst friend ever. Here Lily was, trying to help Erica out and all Erica could do was lie to her and do nothing as Lily was sent off on a path that would lead to her untimely death. She was a terrible person. "Thanks for trying," she said softly, wiping at the tears that had started to form in her eyes.

"Believe me, I was mostly being selfish," Lily said. "I'm terrified of facing all this wedding crap by myself." Erica couldn't help laughing at that but Lily stopped her before she could reply. "Just promise me one thing, okay? Think of it as my Christmas present."

"What?" Erica asked curiously.

"Don't spend the whole break moping around, okay?" Lily said, suddenly serious. "I'm worried about you. I saw how you reacted when Hagrid brought those Christmas trees into the Great Hall. I don't want you to spend the whole break being depressed and alone."

Erica could feel herself blushing in shame. That had not been a good moment for her. All she could think about when she saw them was her mum, and the way she had made everyone in the family show up on Christmas Eve so they could put up the tree. In fact, all the Christmas decorations around the castle had only brought her mother to the front of her mind, the place were Erica had tried to banish her from after that disastrous Quidditch match. Still, the sight of those trees had nearly knocked the wind out of her and she had spent the rest of the week hiding out in the common room so she wouldn't have to see any of the other decorations being put up around the castle. "I'll try," she said.

Lily beamed at her. "That's all I'm asking for."

Despite her promise to her friend, Erica spent the first few days of break cooped up in her dormitory. All of her dorm mates had gone home for the holidays so no one seemed to mind that she spent most of her time in bed or the fact that she hadn't bothered to change out of her pajamas in days. She just didn't have any desire to get up and do anything, even though she knew Lily would worry after she didn't answer any of her owls. She couldn't even eat because the sight of all the Christmas decorations made her lose what little appetite she had. In fact, she had been determined to stay in bed until the break was over, or she withered away into nothingness, until Christmas morning, when she awoke to someone with familiar shaggy black hair roughly opening the curtains to her bed.

"What the hell are you doing?" Erica shouted, hastily brushing her fingers through her hair. She hadn't washed it in days and she knew it was currently sticking up in all directions. This was definitely not the way she would have wanted to see Sirius, especially after he had just barged into her bedroom. "How did you even get in here?"

Sirius smirked. "Do you really think I'm going to give away my secret of getting up that staircase?"

Erica pursed her lips in annoyance. She didn't know that Sirius had stayed at Hogwarts as well, but frankly, that just made her want to isolate herself in her dormitory even more. It was true that they had been getting along fairly well the past few weeks, and by getting along she meant that he no longer accused her of being a liar, but she was convinced that that was only because James had been there as a buffer. She figured he would quickly fall back to flinging insults and accusations at her as soon as they were alone and she was looking to avoid that. Or even worse, he would start doing that annoying thing where he somehow got her to be completely honest with him even when she didn't want to. No, she was definitely not in the mood to have Sirius mess with her head. "What do you want?" she asked sharply, pulling her sheets up to her chin.

"Everybody's worried about you, you know," he said, staring down at her with an expression that Erica couldn't read. Then he sniffed the air and made a face. "Look, get in the shower and then come downstairs for once. I've got a letter for you from James."

"Listen, Black, I'm not really –" she started to protest but he cut her off.

"No excuses, Costello! Don't make me throw you in the shower myself," he threatened.

Erica's eyes widened at the insinuation. "Fine," she said angrily, throwing the covers off and getting out of bed. "I'll be down there in ten minutes."

Sirius was still making that face, though, and Erica could tell it was because she hadn't showered in a couple days. She wished there was some way she could have melted into the floor and died from embarrassment. Unfortunately, she didn't know any spells that would allow her to do that. "Maybe you should make it fifteen," he said before leaving the dormitory. Erica could feel herself blushing at that. This was just great. Not only was it the worst day of the year, the one day when she would never be able to get her mother and the rest of her family out of her head, but Sirius, the bloke she had a tiny crush on despite the fact that he was an arse most of the time, had just seen her crazy bed hair and told her she smelled. She was pretty certain things could only get worse from there.

* * *

**A/N:** I decided to go crazy and update this story. Hasn't been beta-ed but I hope you enjoy it anyways!


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

Erica took much longer in the shower than she expected and then made her way downstairs, stopping short at the bottom of the staircase when she saw Sirius Black standing there. "Can you please explain what's going on now?" she asked, hoping she could somehow get this over with quickly.

He held out an envelope with her name on it. "James sent this with my Christmas present." Erica grabbed the envelope from his hands and tried to run back up the stairs but Sirius grabbed her arm to stop her. "You know, I'm starting to feel a little insulted," he said sarcastically, smirking down at her as he gently steered her towards the couch in front of the fire. "Here I was, thinking we were friends, and you've been avoiding me all break."

She raised an eyebrow at him as she sat down on the couch. She was pretty sure that he would never consider her a friend but she didn't say anything. She turned to the envelope in her hands and pulled the letter out, immediately recognizing James's messy scrawl.

'_Erica,_

_How's it going? I haven't heard from you in a while and I'm starting to get worried. Sirius says that you haven't left your dormitory in days and you're not answering Lily's letters. You are probably wondering how I know this and it's because the lovely Lily has finally answered one of my letters with a Christmas note! Well, actually, she didn't mention Christmas in it or how much she wishes she could spend the holidays with me… she kind of went on about how she was really worried about you and wanted to know if I'd spoken to you recently, but I'm sure the sentiment was still there! Best Christmas present ever!_

_I really am worried about you, though. Please leave your room for a little while, at least to eat, and remember that I am here if you need me. Answer Lily's letters too because that girl must be going bonkers if she's writing me. And it would be great if you mentioned how I owled you and my letter was so inspirational that you just jumped out of bed and decided to cheer up._

_Happy Christmas,_

_James'_

Erica couldn't help laughing at the note. She was glad she had been able to give him a good Christmas present, at least. She turned to Sirius as she folded the letter back up and noticed the pile of presents and ripped wrapping paper that Sirius had in front of him. "Someone's popular," she muttered. He simply shrugged his shoulders before throwing a box of sweets into the fire. Instead of explaining his strange behavior, he simply grabbed another box and threw it in the fire. When he grabbed a third package, one that looked like a box of cauldron cakes, Erica could no longer hold in her curiosity. "Should I even ask?"

"Poorly disguised love potions," he said, actually looking a bit embarrassed. Erica snorted at that. It figures. She had noticed that a certain group of girls seemed to follow him everywhere in the past few months. She hadn't realized they were that desperate for him, though. She watched him throw the rest into the fire, wondering how long she could sit down here before Sirius would let her go back upstairs. Her stomach growled as he reached the end of the pile and he smiled. "Right. Let's go get some food."

"Breakfast's over," she pointed out.

"So?" he asked, smiling down at her. His smile made her knees feel weak and she was glad she was sitting down. "We can go to the kitchens. Come on."

Erica was going to protest but he was up and out of the portrait hole before she could say anything. She deliberated for a minute. She could easily go back to her room now and lock the door. Hopefully, that would be able to keep him out for a little while. Or even better, he would take the hint and leave her alone for the rest of break. Somehow, she doubted that would actually happen, though. Besides, maybe it was time to face the horrible depression that this holiday had brought out in her head-on. Surely, the only way to make it disappear was to work her way through it. And she really was hungry now that she thought about it. That was why she found herself chasing after Sirius, yelling, "Wait up!" He stopped and looked at her impatiently as she reached him. "Won't the house elves be busy making Christmas dinner?" she asked.

"No," he said. "Are you kidding? They'd be happy to feed us."

Erica nodded. They walked in a comfortable silence after that, Erica staring determinedly at the ground as they walked so she wouldn't notice all the decorations that had been put up all over the castle. Once they reached the familiar hallway underneath the castle, Sirius walked over to a giant picture of a bowl of fruit and tickled the pear, which turned into a giant door handle. He opened it to reveal a giant kitchen, as big as the Great Hall above it. There were tables just as big as the house tables in the Great Hall and they were placed in the same position. And there were literally hundreds of house elves running around, preparing one of the massive feasts that Hogwarts was famous for.

A few detached themselves from the crowds cooking and ran over to Erica and Sirius. "Is there anything the house elves can do for Mister Black, sir?"

"Yeah," he answered, smiling kindly down at the two house elves. They had massive bat like ears with small faces and were wearing burlap sacks with the Hogwarts crest on them. One must have been female, because she had longer hair with bows in it. "Can I get some bacon and eggs, please?"

"Yes, sir! Blinky will get that right away, sir!" the female one said before hurrying off.

"And for you, miss?" the other one asked, bowing as he spoke.

"Can I just get some coffee and toast, please?" Erica asked, a little stunned at how accommodating the elves were when they were in the middle of preparing a feast. The one she had spoken too simply nodded before hurrying off. She followed Sirius over to the long table that must have represented the Gryffindor table and sat down across from him. As soon as they were in their seats, the elves were hurrying over to them with giant plates of food. Erica quickly realized that they must have toasted a whole loaf of bread for her as they placed it in front of her, along with an entire pot of coffee. Sirius's plate was overflowing with food as well. They thanked the house elves, who were beaming with pleasure. "Merlin, they really just give this stuff away, don't they?"

"Isn't it great?" Sirius asked with a mouth full of food.

Erica couldn't help nodding before eating some of the toast. She had been ravenous but she found that only a few slices had made her feel stuffed. She drank the coffee as she watched Sirius inhale his food. The way he devoured it reminded her of her younger brothers, which only seemed to be inviting that horrible emptiness back in, so she decided to ask him the question that had been bothering her all morning. "Why are you being nice to me?"

"What?" Sirius asked, looking both bewildered and a little offended. "I'm always nice to you!"

Erica stared at him in disbelief. "No you're not."

"Okay, not always," he admitted. "But I've been pretty nice to you lately."

"Yeah, because of James," she pointed out. "And he's not around now, so what's the reason?"

"I am perfectly capable of being nice without having any ulterior motives, Erica," he said. Erica could tell he was trying to sound insulted but it wasn't really working.

She stared at him critically for a moment before asking, "How much is James paying you?"

Sirius frowned. "He said he'd give me ten galleons if I could get you up. And an extra five more if you answer Evans and talk him up in your letter." Erica laughed at that. Somehow, she could tell that this was the truth. And it made her like James even more, seeing that he liked her enough as a friend to do this for her, even when she tried her hardest to push him away. He made it so hard to not like him and she really couldn't figure out why his charm didn't work on Lily. "You're not mad, are you?"

"No," she answered truthfully. Why would she be mad? There was only one thing she couldn't understand. "Why didn't you just take the money and say you did it? I mean, you've made it pretty clear that you don't care about me."

Sirius shrugged, his face dark as he finished eating his breakfast. Finally, he muttered, "That's not true."

"What?" Erica asked.

"That's not true," he said, louder than before. "That I don't care about you. And besides, what does it matter? Obviously I did the right thing. I mean, you should have seen the state you were in this morning. It was disgusting."

Erica scowled at him. She didn't think he was lying but he couldn't care about her. He had been such a jerk for so long. But he had been acting a lot nicer lately, and she definitely enjoyed it when he was nice to her. Maybe she should simply stop questioning it and just go with it. What was the worst that could happen? However, she wasn't much interested in how much her earlier appearance had disgusted the best looking bloke in the school so she decided to change the subject. "How come you're at Hogwarts, anyways? I thought you had moved in with James."

Sirius frowned. "They were going to stay with some relative in Edinburgh for the holidays. They invited me along but I didn't really want to intrude, you know? Plus, Peter had to stay because his parents… well, he likes to spend as little time as possible with them so I figured I'd keep him company."

"Did Remus stay too?" she asked.

He cleared his throat and reached up to scratch the back of his neck. "He was going to but, erm, he had to go help his sick aunt."

"Oh," Erica said, her brow furrowing in confusion. That was the worst lie she'd ever heard but she decided not to push it. He obviously didn't want to tell her what Remus was really doing over the break, although she couldn't figure out why. "So where is Peter, then?"

"Why? Am I not good enough for you?" Sirius asked in mock offense.

"Well, now that you mention it…" she smiled at him to show she was joking and he smiled back. She couldn't help noticing just how attractive he was when he smiled like that. His long dark hair was falling into those beautiful grey eyes, and his grin was wide with just a small bit of mischief in it. It felt like her stomach was doing back flips, which was not an entirely pleasant now that she was full of burnt bread and coffee.

The air in the room turned suddenly awkward and Sirius cleared his throat. "So what's up with you anyways?"

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"Well, for starters, why'd you lock yourself up in your room for three days?"

Erica shrugged, staring resolutely at the table. Sirius was able to read her so much better than anyone else but she didn't really feel like sharing her feelings. "I just felt like being alone, I guess."

"Right," Sirius said, sounding like he didn't believe her in the slightest.

"How do you know I was locked up in my room, anyways? Maybe you just never saw me leave. Did you ever think of that?" Erica asked, suddenly wondering why he had taken such an interest in her whereabouts anyways.

Sirius avoided answering her though, instead asking another question. "Why do you hate Christmas so much?" Erica looked at him in confusion and he sighed, "Come on, Erica. You've looked like you wanted to murder every wreath we've come across. What's going on?"

"Christmas was a big deal to my mum. It was the one time of year that my whole family was together," Erica whispered. "It's so… weird to be going through it alone." She hoped that was enough of an explanation because she really did not feel like going into it.

Sirius seemed to sense that that was all he was going to get from her. He nodded before standing up and saying, "Right. I think you have a letter to write now."

She followed him up to the owlery. He broke into a locked classroom along the way and nicked a spare bit of parchment, a quill and a bottle of ink for her. She sat down at one of the desks and he sat on top of the one next to her, quietly watching her as she wrote to Lily. She had just wanted to send a quick note to her friend, letting her know that she was alright, but she ended up saying much more than that. She even managed to include the fact that James had recruited his friends in making her snap out of it, hoping that would be enough for him.

She spent the rest of the morning with Sirius and actually managed to have a good time. They had spent most of the morning on the grounds, having a massive snowball war with Peter and a fifth year named Davey Gudgeon. Erica was actually quite pleased with herself, having managed to soak the three boys with snow while staying completely dry. Well, at least until Sirius snuck up on her and stuffed a massive bit of ice down the back of her shirt. It was at that point that she decided to go back to Gryffindor tower so she could put on some warm clothes before dinner. She was even more surprised to find two presents sitting at the end of her bed when she got there. She couldn't tell if she had simply not noticed them before or if they had shown up in her absence. Either way, she was touched to find that James had given her a box of pumpkin pasties while Lily had sent her a dark green sweater along with a note explaining that she had gotten her letter, was extremely relieved that Erica wasn't moping anymore, and would send her a longer response soon.

She changed quickly, deciding to wear her brand new sweater, before meeting the boys in the Great Hall. All of the house tables had disappeared and instead there was just one long table in the middle of the large room. All of the professors were sitting on one side, while most of the chairs on the other side were occupied by the students that had elected to stay at Hogwarts. There weren't that many of them. Erica noticed the three boys from Gryffindor, two Hufflepuff second years, a handful of Ravenclaws fifth and seventh years, and Severus Snape.

Dumbledore's eyes twinkled as he noticed her walking into the room. "Ah, Miss Costello, come join us!" he called across the room, indicating the empty seat next to Sirius. "So few students decided to stay this year that it seemed silly to sit at separate tables."

She smiled politely at the headmaster as she sat down. She never really knew how to interact with the man in public considering that he was the only person who knew her secret. "Thank you, professor," she said quietly.

She greeted Sirius and Peter but noticed they were too busy glaring at Snape to pay any attention to her. She rolled her eyes and turned her attention to the delicious food the house elves had been making earlier. She tried not to look around the Great Hall, which had been decorated beautifully for the holiday. She felt a sharp tug on her heart, the only thing she could think about was the fact that her mother would have seriously loved the fact that Hogwarts went all out. She was really starting to hate Christmas. It was a horrible holiday, really, seeming to only exist so it could remind her of everything she had lost.

Sirius must have picked up on her emotions. He elbowed her in the side and offered her a Christmas cracker when she looked up at him, a strange look in his eyes. She smiled at him and broke it, laughing when a bonnet and a bunch of mice were released with a loud bang. Sirius quickly grabbed the bonnet and put it on his head. "You look ridiculous," she pointed.

"You are just jealous," Sirius retorted.

She laughed before softly saying, "Thank you."

He rolled his eyes at her and offered her another Christmas cracker. The dinner was nice after that, despite the fact that celebrating Christmas without her mother still made her feel guilty. She actually managed to have some fun, laughing at Sirius and Peter as they joked around. She had even managed to get an admirals hat and a wizarding chess set out of the crackers lying around on the table. Sirius and Peter stood up abruptly in the middle of dinner, announcing that they were full. It was quite obvious that they were up to something, they weren't being very subtle, and it was even more apparent when Sirius pulled her out of her seat too.

She was smart enough not to say anything until they'd reached the hallway. "What's going on?" she asked curiously.

"We're going to ambush Snape when he leaves," Sirius muttered

"Is that really such a good idea?" Erica asked. "I mean, all of the professors, including Dumbledore, are in there."

Peter shook his head, as he led them towards the staircase to the Potions classroom. "That's why we're going to do it down in the dungeons."

"Right," Erica said, still completely confused. "And why do you need me?"

Sirius shrugged, looking at her strangely again. "I figured you'd want in on this."

Erica couldn't deny that she would enjoy hexing Snape. She had done a good job of avoiding the boy over the past few months but that didn't mean she had forgotten all of the horrible deeds he would eventually do. She had even managed to acquire another reason for hating his guts after witnessing how upset he made Lily whenever he hounded after her, trying to get her to forgive him for being a treacherous, slimy git. "Sure," she said.

The two boys smiled at her before walking quietly down the cold, stone hallways of the dungeons. They were nowhere near the Potions area and Erica was pretty sure she had never been in this part of the school before. She couldn't help but feel impressed by just how knowledgeable the Mauraders were about Hogwarts, and she doubted any of them had ever been bothered with _Hogwarts: A History_. In fact, she was certain that all of the passageways and hidden niches they knew were not even in the book. Sirius opened a door that Erica hadn't even noticed, it blended in completely with the wall surrounding it, and ushered the two of them in there. Then he joined them, closing the door until there was only a crack for him to peek out of.

The area was small and they stood there for a long time. Erica eventually lost interest in waiting for Snape, kind of wishing she could leave and go back up to the common room, where it was warm and there were many comfortable seats available. "How do you know he'll come by here?"

"Because this is the quickest way to the Slytherin common room from the Great Hall," Peter answered.

Erica felt her eyes go wide. She couldn't believe they knew where the Slytherin common room was. Did that mean they knew where the rest of the common rooms were too? She shook her head, deciding not to embarrass herself by asking those questions. She could remember all too well how Sirius had laughed at her when she mentioned that she hadn't known where the kitchens were. "So why are we doing this, anyways?"

"Because Snape's a nosey prat," Sirius answered. "Peter found snooping around the hospital wing again, trying to –"

"Padfoot!" Peter said, looking at his friend in alarm.

Sirius shook his head as if he were coming out of a trance. "Shit," he said, looking at Erica accusingly. "I always say too much around you."

Erica ignored that comment and instead asked, "What was he trying to do? What's in the hospital wing?"

Sirius steadfastly ignored her and held a hand up to stop her when she tried to ask him any more questions. She felt a little annoyed with Peter for stopping Sirius. Now she was incredibly curious and he wouldn't even let her talk. She was about to demand that he let her leave when she heard footsteps coming down the hall. Sirius unnecessarily shushed her and Peter as he watched out of the crack in the door. "Okay, here he comes," he said, smiling at the two of them before quickly turning back to Severus. Erica could feel her muscles tensing up in anticipation. She had to admit, this Christmas wasn't turning out that bad after all.

* * *

**A/N:** So... I'm still writing this story, although it is pretty slow going. I've actually got a couple more chapters all written up and ready to posted so hopefully I'll be able to do that soon. Also, I've noticed that a lot of people have been adding this to their alerts or favorites but I haven't gotten a review in a long time. So please review! Love it or hate it, I'd like to know what you're thinking or how you think I could make it better.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

Christmas break continued quite nicely after that. Sirius had definitely earned the ten galleons that James had promised him. He had done a great job of keeping Erica out of her dormitory and occupied so that the depression didn't even have a chance to come back. Remus showed up after a few days, his "sick aunt" apparently having a miraculous recovery, and she had had a blast hanging out with the three boys. She even found herself becoming closer with Remus and Peter. Still, as much fun as she had with the three Marauders, she was incredibly glad when last day of break came. She was definitely in need of some girl time. Sirius and Peter had left earlier that morning, asking if she'd like to go with them as they prepared to ambush James with snowballs as soon as he got back but she declined. Instead, she stayed in the common room with Remus, waiting for Lily and doing a Herbology essay that she had put off until the last minute.

She looked up every time the portrait hole opened, more and more students arriving back at school as the day progressed, but none were the redhead she was waiting for. Finally, late into the afternoon, the portrait hole opened and Erica felt her mouth drop in shock when she noticed who was emerging from it. Instead of seeing the familiar red hair and green eyes of Lily Evans, she quickly recognized the curly blonde hair and round friendly face of Jennifer Morrison.

"Jenn!" Erica yelled, getting up and hugging her friend.

"Hey," Jenn laughed as she hugged her back.

"Why didn't you tell me you were coming back today?" Erica asked, glad to see her friend back at school.

Jenn managed a weak smile as she answered. "I didn't tell anyone. Look, I'm sorry I didn't answer any of your letters. I just… didn't really feel like talking."

Erica shook her head as she grabbed one of Jenn's bags and helped her carry it up to their dorm. "There's no need to apologize, Jenn. Believe me, I understand exactly how you feel."

Jenn smiled gratefully at her friend before asking, "Is Lily back yet?"

"No," Erica answered. "Or at least I haven't seen her if she is." Jenn nodded, sitting down on her bed. Erica sat next to her, a little worried about her friend. Jenn was usually not this quiet, and she looked completely exhausted. "How are you doing really?" she asked.

Jenn sighed. "I'm as good as I can be, I guess. It was just so hard, walking around my aunt's house and knowing that I would never see my parents again. I kept expecting my mum to jump out and tell me that it's all been a huge mistake. I still am, actually."

Erica nodded, not saying anything as Jenn wiped her eyes. "Look, I don't want to sound too cheesy or anything, but you know I'm here for you, right? Any time you need something, just let me know." The truth was, Erica still felt extremely guilty. She knew it wasn't her fault that the Death Eaters had attacked the pub but that didn't change the fact that she could have prevented it. And she wished there something – anything - she could do to make it up to her friend, even though she knew that was impossible.

Jenn nodded, not saying anything, and they sat in a comfortable silence. Finally, Jenn asked, "It's just… how did you deal?"

"I didn't," Erica answered truthfully. "I still haven't." Jenn raised her eyebrows in confusion and Erica continued, "It's not really something you can just deal with, Jenn. Or maybe it's just because I haven't really wanted to deal with it, I don't know. But I can tell you that the only thing that's worked for me has been time. It definitely sucks sitting around waiting for it but it does actually make things feel better eventually." She sat thoughtfully for a moment before adding, " I still have times when it will hit me out of nowhere and it's like no time as passed at all. It'll hurt just as much as it did when I first found out, but they happen less frequently as time goes on."

Jenn shuddered, not looking all that happy at the response she got. "Thanks for being honest," she said after a while. "I'm so sick of hearing people tell me that it will get better, as if that will magically make it hurt less."

Erica smiled at her friend, giving her a quick side hug. "It's no problem. Like I said, if you need anything at all, I'm here."

The door to their room burst open before Jenn could respond, revealing Lily standing in the doorway. She stared at her friend in silence before yelling, "Jenn!" Then she rushed over and tightly hugged her friend.

Jenn laughed, although it sounded slightly hollow. "It's great to see you too, Lily."

"I've been so worried about you!" Lily said, squeezing herself in between Erica and Jenn on the bed. "How are you feeling?"

The blonde simply shrugged her shoulders. "Listen, I'm really sorry I didn't answer any –"

Lily interrupted her by waving her off. "Don't even worry about it, Jenn. I completely understand. But… I mean, are you sure you're ready to come back to school?"

"I'm not really sure," Jenn answered. "But I couldn't take another day at my aunt Mildred's. She was driving me up a wall. Plus… well, she needs to get their affairs in order since she's the executor of the will and I couldn't handle hearing about what she wanted to do with all of their stuff."

Erica nodded. She could remember how difficult it had been boxing up her mother's stuff, and even worse deciding if it should go in storage or be sold or donated. In fact, her father still hadn't gone through her mother's clothes by the time Erica had had that incident with the time turner and she couldn't help wondering if he would ever get around to it. She couldn't dwell on that thought for too long, though, because she noticed the strange look Lily was giving her. "What?" she asked.

"How are you doing?" Lily asked, her concern evident in her voice.

Erica could feel her face coloring in embarrassment. "I'm fine," she said, smiling sheepishly at her friend. "I'm sorry about that again. It was just… Christmas." She knew it was a stupid excuse but it was the truth.

"Wait, what?" Jenn asked, looking at the two of them in confusion.

"I was having a hard time earlier because of Christmas," Erica explained. Jenn nodded, completely understanding since she had just gone through her first Christmas without her parents. "Anyways, Lily alerted Potter and he got Sirius to kind of force me into getting over it."

Jenn turned to Lily and smirked at her. "You alerted Potter?"

Lily's cheeks flushed. "I knew he was going to make a big deal out of that! I just wanted to know if he'd heard from you."

Jenn was staring at Lily in shock. "You mean you actually wrote Potter a letter?" Lily nodded. "Wow, I've missed a lot."

"Oh, honestly," Lily said, her blush deepening. "It was just a bloody letter." She noticed the skeptical look that Erica and Jenn shared and decided to ask, "So what did Sirius do, anyway?"

It was Erica's turn to blush. "Nothing, really. He just made me get out of bed and then let me tag along with him, Peter and Remus for the rest of break. I'm pretty sure James paid him to do it, though."

"And he was actually civil?" Jenn asked, looking even more shocked.

"Yeah," Erica said, surprised at the revelation. Sirius had gone the whole break without accusing her of anything. He hadn't even slipped into that weird, sullen mood where he was a total prick and then tried to blame it on her with that same rubbish about how it was so difficult being nice to her. "I know. It was weird."

"Lily's pen pals with Potter and you're actually getting along with Sirius Black. I think I might have somehow flooed into an alternate universe," Jenn laughed.

* * *

The first week of term flew by quickly. The teachers were very serious about making the sixth years buckle down and prepare for their N.E.W.T.s, judging by the amount of work they were being assigned. Erica was severely disappointed when she somehow got behind in both Charms and Transfiguration after only two classes. To make matters worse, rumors started spreading on Friday morning that Voldemort had personally attacked a prominent pureblood wizarding family, the Finnicks. So many were shocked by this news, believing that purebloods were safe from his rampage. However, it was widely known that the family patriarch had vehemently opposed the Dark Lord, which was why he had incurred his wrath. The Evening Prophet confirmed the rumors that night, the murders making the front page. A lot of the students were panicking, finally realizing that blood status wouldn't stop Voldemort from killing anyone that stood in his way.

"I was really hoping those rumors wouldn't be true," Lily said sadly, staring at the copy of the _Evening Prophet_ that had just been delivered to her.

Jenn sighed. She had been quiet ever since the rumors started circulating, probably because this was Voldemort's first public attack since the one her parents had been killed in. "I wouldn't put anything past Voldemort at this point."

"He really is ruthless," Lily agreed, her voice small and sad. She had been extremely ecstatic when she found out that she was a witch but now, well, Voldemort and his followers were enough to almost make her wish she could return to the muggle world. She looked over at Erica and was alarmed by what she saw. All of her muscles were tense, as if she were expecting a fight, and she looked as if she had just seen a ghost. "Erica, are you alright?"

Erica jumped at the sound of her own name. "Yeah," she lied. "I'm fine."

The truth was that Erica was anything but fine. She remembered this, she had heard her parents talking about the murder of one of their old school friends, Bobby Finnick. He must have been the elder son pictured on the Daily Prophet, the one that was only a few years out of Hogwarts. They had called it a turning point, the moment the wizarding world realized just how serious Voldemort was. Up until that point, the wizarding world had been split into two spheres of opinion. One sympathized with his ideas of eliminating muggle-borns, having believed in the superiority of pureblood wizards for centuries. Others believed he was a lunatic concerned only with the purity of blood, someone that would be eventually caught by the Ministry and forced to live in Azkaban. But when he murdered the Finnicks, a very famous pureblood family, everyone started to realize just how dangerous Voldemort was. They were starting to see that not all of his ideas centered around his prejudices against muggles and frankly, the Ministry was no match for him.

It was another attack she had known about, another family she could have saved. The death toll was rising and there was nothing she could do about it. She was concentrating solely on trying to keep her cool. Things had actually been going great lately, she was finally starting to feel like she was fitting in, and she didn't want to ruin it by having a mental breakdown in the middle of the common room. She was so focused on slowing her breathing that she didn't even notice at first when James sat down in the armchair next to hers.

"What's wrong with her?" he asked curiously.

"No idea," Lily said, frowning at him.

"I think it has something to do with this," Jenn said, handing him the newspaper.

His eyes widened as he read the headline. "Oh man," he said, pushing the newspaper away from him. "This is bad."

"What is?" Sirius asked as he walked over. He snatched the paper off from James's hands and muttered, "Oh shit." He scanned the article as he sat down on a couch near them before passing it on to Remus.

"I thought the Finnicks were pureblooded," Peter said, trying to read over Remus's shoulder.

"I don't think that matters anymore, Peter," Remus replied, his voice sad.

Sirius frowned at the two of them. It was true, Voldemort seemed to be moving away from acting like he only wanted to purify the wizarding world. He wondered what his parents thought of him now. For some reason, he thought they were nutty enough to still agree with him. He turned to Erica and noticed that she was forcing herself to breath in and out. "What's up with you?" he asked.

Erica's heart started to beat even faster, just like it always did whenever she talked to Sirius. She finally decided to just come out with it. Obviously she was doing a really crappy job of trying to contain her emotions. "My parents knew them," she replied. "I never met them but they talked about them a lot."

Sirius narrowed his eyes at her. He could tell that she was holding something back but decided not to push it. He looked around the common room then. There was a sad, defeated air permeating the room. Everyone was affected by the latest news. The entire student body seemed to be terrified now that they realized that not even purebloods were safe. "We need a good prank," he said suddenly, looking at James. "Something to cheer everyone up."

James looked at Sirius in what he hoped was a good imitation of bewilderment. He couldn't believe he had brought up pranking in front of Lily Evans, right after she was finally started to unthaw around him. Thankfully, Jenn saved him from answering. She snorted and said, "No, what we need is a stiff drink."

"Or five," Erica muttered.

"I still have that firewhiskey from my birthday party," Sirius pointed out.

Lily cleared her throat then. She was all too aware of the way James was anxiously watching her and she decided to leave. "Right. I am going to take myself out of this conversation. Just… don't do it in the common room, okay?" Normally she wouldn't have turned a blind eye to such blatant rule breaking but she found that she didn't have it in her to lecture her friends.

As soon as she disappeared up the stairs to the girls' dormitory, James grinned. "Come on, you girls could probably sneak up into our room without anyone noticing right now."

It was true. The common room was almost empty, since it was Friday night and curfew wasn't for another few hours. Erica was certain that no one would notice her and Jenn going up to their dormitory. She turned to her friend, raising an eyebrow at her in question. She really wanted to go, desperate for anything that would take away the massive amount of guilt she was currently feeling, but she thought it might be awkward if she was by herself with the boys. Jenn shrugged and muttered, "It might be fun."

Erica nodded. "Alright," she said, getting up and following the rest of them up to the Marauder's dormitory.

Unfortunately for her, the firewhiskey had the opposite effect than what she was hoping for. It seemed like the more she drank, the worse she felt as the names of Voldemort's latest victims played across her mind. At first she had participated in some silly drinking game the boys had invented, one that involved exploding snap and ingesting massive amounts of alcohol, but she detached herself from the group as the night wore on. She slowly moved away from their game until she was sitting at a window in between two unmade beds, watching as thin wisps of clouds moved slowly across the small sliver of moon.

Sirius had been watching her as she seemed to get lost in her thoughts and he couldn't help wishing that there was a way he could see what exactly was going on in her head. It was quite obvious that she was preoccupied with something. He was a little surprised that he was the only one who had noticed, but then again, everyone else in the room was pretty inebriated. Jenn had passed out on Remus's bed early. The girl had gone hard with the alcohol, probably looking for a way to numb the immense amount of pain that he knew she was still feeling from the loss of her parents. James was ranting on about Lily Evans and how he finally thought he was making some progress with her, like he always did when he was drunk, even though no one was listening to him. Remus and Peter had started building a house out of the exploding snap cards, although it kept blowing up in their faces, which they seemed to find hilarious.

Still, Sirius was a little disconcerted that he seemed to be the only one paying close attention to Erica. He really did not understand why it was so hard for him to ignore this girl but there was something about her that kept drawing him in. Maybe it was because he was so determined to figure out what her story was, he was certain she hadn't been telling the entire truth about her past and where she came from. That had to be it. It couldn't have anything to do with James's ridiculous theory about him fancying her. She might have grown on him over break, to the point where he actually considered her a friend, but that was as far as it went. And he couldn't stop thinking about her strange reaction to the murder of the Finnicks. She had completely overreacted, like she usually did, and her explanation had been severely lacking.

Finally, Sirius couldn't take it any longer. James was boring him with his ramblings about Evans and Sirius knew that at least Erica would be able to entertain him. He got up and walked over to where she was sitting.

James yelled after him, "Hey! Where are you going? Aren't you even listening to me?" But instead of following Sirius, he turned to Remus and Peter and started telling them all about the letter Lily had sent him on Christmas Eve, a story they had already heard numerous times during their first week of the new term.

It wasn't until Sirius sat down next to Erica that he noticed the tears in her eyes. "Merlin, you turn into a hosepipe with just the slightest bit of alcohol," he said.

She tried to hide her face from him, not wanting him to see how upset she really was. "Not really much to be cheerful about, I guess." Sirius reached up and grabbed a tissue from the table next to James's bed. "Thanks," she muttered, her face turning a deep shade of pink.

"Nothing to be cheerful about?" Sirius asked, trying hard to sound offended. "Do you know how many girls would kill to be up here?"

Erica laughed. "Well, I do feel extremely privileged to see your messy room."

"You should. Not many people get to witness how Peter seems to get his dirty drawers all over the place," he said, nodding to a particularly crusty looking pair a couple feet away from them.

Erica made a face. "Yeah, I think I could have done without that."

Sirius chuckled and Erica couldn't help smiling as well, although it didn't last for long. "What's wrong, anyways?" Sirius asked.

"Like you said, I'm a sad drunk," Erica said, looking down at her hands as she said this. She didn't want to look him in the eye, didn't want him to figure out that she was lying. He always seemed to pick up on it so easily, although she had no idea how, and this time was no different.

"No, it's more than that," he said, studying her face. "It's the whole Finnicks thing, isn't it?"

There really was no point in lying to him so Erica nodded. "I guess."

"But why?" he asked. "I thought you didn't know them."

"I didn't," she said, suddenly feeling defensive. Why did this boy have to delve into every little detail of her life? Why did he think it was any of his business, anyways? "But that doesn't mean I can't be affected by their deaths. They were murdered, Sirius, by the same man that killed my parents and Jenn's parents and countless other people. What's so wrong with being upset by that?"

"Sorry," Sirius muttered, clearly taken back by her outburst. "I didn't realize you were the next Mother Theresa."

Erica laughed bitterly. For someone who could read her so easily, she was amazed at how far off the mark he was. "I am the farthest thing from that, actually."

"But you just said –"

Erica cut him off, seeming to get angrier by the second. "What do you want from me, Sirius? Do you want me to admit that I'm as horrible as you seem to think I am? Well, here you go, I'm a terrible person and you were right to treat me so horribly! Does that answer all your damn questions?" She got up then and stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind her. Sirius looked at the door in bewilderment, not quite sure what he had done to make her react like that. He just wanted to know why she was so upset, after all.

"What the bloody hell was that?" James asked from across the room.

Sirius shrugged. "No idea, Prongs. The only explanation I can come up with is that she is a girl and therefore completely nutty."

"Women," Peter said, as if that was the only explanation needed.

Sirius nodded in agreement. He didn't think he'd ever be able to figure them out. But he couldn't get Erica's outburst out of his head. He couldn't help feeling guilty at her words. He didn't think she was horrible, at least he hadn't since Christmas. He actually felt a little ashamed for the way he had treated her at the beginning of the school year. She was obviously hiding something but she had a bloody good reason for being so guarded, having lost her whole family so recently at the hands of the darkest wizard in history.

"They make no sense," James said, his words slurring together. "Like Evans! She –"

Sirius grabbed a pillow from the bed beside him and threw it at James, hitting him right in the face. "Will you please shut the hell about Evans, mate? I'm so bloody sick of hearing about her!"

* * *

**A/N:** Thank you to InsaneIsMyMiddleName and julie662 for the reviews! It was great finally getting some feedback for this story so I decided to post this chapter to show my appreciation :) Anyways, I hope you guys liked this chapter! Please let me know what you think!


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

"I guess I just don't understand how I can still be a good person when I'm letting all of this happen," Erica said. She found herself watching the sunrise over the Quidditch pitch from the window in Professor Dumbledore's office for the sixth time in the last two weeks. It had started the day after the Finnicks had died. She hadn't been able to sleep at all that night, unable to ignore the fact that people were dying and she wasn't doing anything to stop it. Finally, once she had sobered up, she went to see the headmaster, needing to talk to someone who knew her secret and might be able to actually give her some advice. Thankfully, Dumbledore was always awake and didn't seem to mind when she repeatedly burst into his office at dawn.

"I can understand that it is tempting to change the past, Miss Costello, but the fact remains that you would be taking a giant risk," Dumbledore replied. This had been his response every time she showed up. He would let her get it all out and then remind her that she simply didn't have any other options. "Of course, you might prevent the murders of those people that night but you have no idea if anything will happen to them after that."

"Isn't it better to prolong life, though?" she asked.

"Of course," Dumbledore replied. "But changing time could have disastrous consequences. You need to remember that you don't even exist yet."

"So I could somehow erase myself out of existence?"

"I believe that would be the worst case scenario," the headmaster said. "And of course, changing the slightest thing would mean that you wouldn't be able to go back once the Ministry has invented these timeturners."

Erica frowned. "But why?" She had a really hard time understanding this whole time travel business. In fact, this was around the same time when she usually got a headache and left for breakfast in the Great Hall.

"Because the future that you existed in will cease to exist," he said.

"Right," Erica said. "And that would be bad."

"Yes. I believe so," Dumbledore said, looking at her in amusement.

But she couldn't tell if it was a good thing, either. Letting all these people die just so she could someday get home seemed incredibly selfish to her, especially when some of the people dying would be the friends she had made. But she wanted to go home so badly. It was a dilemma without any right or wrong answers, which only confused her more. And the timeturners… she had been too afraid to ask him before but now she had to know. How much longer would she have to decide between doing what was right for herself and what was right for everyone else? Finally, she looked up at Dumbledore, into the blue eyes that seemed to be filled with so much pity, and asked, "And when will the Ministry have the timeturners?"

The headmaster sighed. "I do not believe they will be fully functional for another year, maybe longer."

Erica placed her head in her hands, trying to fight the tears that were gathering in her eyes. It was what she had feared the most, knowing that she had to spend at least another year here before she could get home. When she was finally able to look up, having successfully fought off the urge to break down into sobs, she saw that Dumbledore was politely looking the other way. "Thanks, Professor," she mumbled as she got up. "I should get down to breakfast now."

Dumbledore nodded. "Please, feel free to come back if you need anything else."

Erica simply nodded before taking the revolving staircase down to the hallway. She knew she would probably be taking him up on his offer. It was kind of funny, actually. She had been so intimidated by the headmaster in her own time that she had never even spoken to him and now she was constantly showing up at his office, trying to make sense of the fact that she was twenty years in the past. And she still wasn't sure how she could do this, let people die just so she could someday get back to her family. While she wanted nothing more to be around her father and brothers again, she wasn't sure if she would be able to live with herself if she let one more person die.

She didn't see Lily or Jenn when she reached the Great Hall so she sat at an empty corner of the Gryffindor table. She pulled a sheet of parchment out of her Potions book and looked around to make sure no one was near her before turning her attention to the timeline she had been working on. It was something that she had decided to do after the Finnicks, trying to document every death that she knew Voldemort was responsible for. After he had returned in her third year, she had kind of thrown herself into learning everything she could about the first war. The Dark Lord had scared the pants off her and she had foolishly that thought learning about him would have lessened that fear but it hadn't. Now, she knew she could predict with almost absolute certainty who his next victim would be and while she couldn't remember exact dates for most of his attacks, she still had a pretty good idea about when these murders would take place. She still wasn't sure what she was going to do once she had finished this timeline, if she was going to give it to Dumbledore or simply use it to torture herself while she waited to return to her family. Either way, creating it at least made her feel like she was doing something.

"Are you rushing to finish your Charms essay too?" James asked as he sat down across from Erica.

"No," Erica said, quickly stuffing the piece of paper back into her Potions text. No matter what she ended up doing with the timeline, she knew she could never let anyone but Dumbledore see it. "Actually, Lily helped me finish that a couple days ago."

"Good," James said as he hurriedly filled his plate. "Can I have a look at it? I didn't get a chance to finish mine last night."

Erica pulled the roll of parchment out of her bag and handed it to him as she asked, "Why not?" She couldn't remember seeing James, or any of the other Marauders in the common room last night.

"I don't really think that's any of your business," Sirius pointed out as he sat next to James. He smirked at her before turning to her essay. Apparently, he had been with James last night, not writing his essay as well.

Erica rolled her eyes, deciding not to answer that. She was pretty sure he was just joking around, anyways. It was strange. She figured he would have gone back to being an obnoxious prat after her drunken outburst, but it seemed to have the opposite effect on him. He had actually become friendly. Erica wasn't certain if he was being genuine or just playing some kind of elaborate prank on her but she wasn't complaining. She much preferred this.

Peter joined them soon after that. "Oh, is that her Charms essay?" he asked, sounding a little relieved. "Excellent!" He pulled a scroll of parchment out of his bag, which looked almost completely blank, and started scribbling frantically on it.

"You guys weren't setting up another ridiculous prank, were you?" Erica asked, looking at them suspiciously. "The food is safe to eat, right?"

"Yes," Sirius said, although he wasn't really paying attention to her. "Except for the bread pudding, but that's just because it's disgusting. We haven't done anything to it."

"Although we definitely should," Peter said, not even bothering to look up from his essay. He was writing so fast that his handwriting was barely legible. It would be a miracle if Flitwick was able to read it.

"Thanks for the idea," James said. He was the only one to look up from his homework as he said this, smiling at her.

Erica looked around then. She was surprised Remus hadn't shown up yet. The boys usually walked around as a pack. Not that they were always together, but it was still strange not to see all four of them at meal times. "Where's Remus?" she asked curiously.

James's smile quickly turned into a frown. "He's, er, not feeling well," he said, looking back down at his homework.

"Oh," Erica said, trying to control her reaction. It seemed like Remus got sick, or had some kind of family emergency, every month. It would always last a couple days, right around the time of the full month. She had realized over the Christmas break that he must already be a werewolf and she felt terrible for him. He had been one of the only decent Defense Against The Dark Arts professors she'd ever had. It had been quite a shock when she learned that he was a werewolf at the end of the year. She felt horrible knowing that, as young as he was now, he was already suffering from it. She noticed that Sirius was watching her closely and hoped that he hadn't been able to read any of that on her face. The boy was so good at that sometimes that she was starting to think that he could read her mind. "Is he alright?" she asked, hoping that she wasn't giving anything away.

Sirius watched her for a moment more. "Nothing Madam Pomfrey can't fix," he said before looking back down at her essay.

Erica nodded, deciding it would be smarter to let the subject drop. She noticed Lily and Jenn finally entering the Great Hall and waved them over. Lily made a face when she noticed who Erica was sitting with but joined them all the same. "Hey," she said, determinedly ignoring James Potter as he looked up at her in wonder. "Where'd you go so early this morning?"

Erica felt herself blush. For some reason, she didn't want the Marauders to know that she kept going to Dumbledore's office. They didn't seem to hold people of authority in high regard. "Dumbledore's office," she said.

"Again?" Jenn asked, looking at her in concern. "Are you alright?"

Erica could feel Sirius's eyes on her again as she looked down at her half eaten egg sandwich. "Yeah, I'm fine."

Thankfully, Lily saved her at that moment from what was sure to be some pretty awkward questions. "Is that your essay?" she asked, looking completely scandalized that James, Sirius and Peter were copying off it. "You're just letting them copy it?"

"Don't get your knickers in a twist, Evans," Sirius said, looking at the redhead in amusement. "We're not daft enough to copy it word for word. Costello is simply helping out some friends in need."

"I didn't realize you were capable of making friends, Black," Lily spat back.

Sirius narrowed his eyes at her but Jenn broke in before they started bickering. "So, Erica, guess who we ran into in the entrance hall," she said pointedly. Lily turned and glared at the blonde.

"Who?" Erica asked, smiling gratefully at her friend. She definitely didn't want to spend the next thirty minutes listening to Lily go back and forth with the Marauders. She was so stubborn that she could argue with them for days without a single break.

"Casey Underwood," Jenn said, as if Erica should know who she was talking about. When she noticed the confused look on Erica's face, she rolled her eyes and scanned the Ravenclaw table before pointing out a good-looking seventh year with brown hair.

"Oh," Erica said. "And what'd he want?"

Lily's face turned a dark shade of red. "Turns out he wanted Lily to be his valentine," Jenn said, laughing as she elbowed Lily in the side. "He asked her to go into Hogsmeade with him this weekend."

James looked up so fast that Erica was certain he had given himself whiplash. "And what'd she say?" he asked Jenn, looking entirely too interested.

"I am sitting right here!" Lily said indignantly. "And for your information, Potter, I said yes! Not that it's any of your business." She grabbed a piece of toast off the table before standing up. "I'm going to the library. I'll see you guys in Charms."

"Oops," Jenn said, watching as Lily stormed out of the Great Hall. "I think I might gone too far with that one."

"Who cares?" Sirius said. "Evans needs to pull that stick out of her arse."

James elbowed his friend in the side. "Shut up, Padfoot," he muttered before turning back to Jenn. "Did she really say yes to that git?"

Jenn laughed, "Yes." She grabbed a muffin off the table and then turned to Erica. "I better go apologize to her." She left the Great Hall, hurrying so she would be able to reach Lily before she disappeared into the stacks in the library.

"I can't believe this!" James said. "Casey Underwood? What does she even see in him?"

"Well, he is pretty smart," Peter pointed out.

"And he's a great keeper," Sirius said. "I heard the Ballycastle Bats were scouting him."

"And he's really fit," Erica smiled.

James looked completely bewildered. "But I'm all of those things!"

"Someone's got a big head," Sirius muttered, smirking at his friend.

James ran his hand through his hair in frustration, making it stand up even more. "I just don't understand why she's going to Hogsmeade with him!" he said, glaring at his friends. He obviously didn't appreciate their teasing.

Erica frowned. She knew she shouldn't help James; she didn't want to be involved in getting James and Lily together. Obviously, it would happen eventually, but she didn't know if she wanted to be responsible for speeding up the process. On the other hand, it was obvious that James actually cared a whole lot about Lily and Erica hated seeing him so upset over it. It really frustrated her too, she knew that James was a great guy but, for some reason, Lily was never able to see it. Finally, she made a decision that she was sure she would end up regretting later. "Well, first of all, girls don't tend fancy blokes that stalk them," she said.

"I do not stalk her!" James said indignantly.

Erica raised an eyebrow at him. "You do follow her around a lot, mate," Peter said.

"Yeah, I think that might qualify as stalking," Sirius agreed, looking like he was having a very hard time not laughing.

James opened his mouth to reply but then stopped, as if he didn't really have an answer to that. "Look, James," Erica said, hoping that she was doing the right thing. "I'm going to give you a little bit of advice, okay? But if you say anything about this to Lily, I will happily murder you and feed your remains to the giant squid."

"Okay," James agreed, looking at her eagerly.

"If you want Lily Evans to stop hating you," she said, "or maybe even possibly like you, you need to back off. Stop following her around. Stop finding any excuse to talk to her. Just leave her alone unless it's absolutely necessary."

James looked confused. "But how is that going to make her like me? I mean, if I leave her completely alone, she might forget that I even exist!"

"I don't think that's possible, James," Sirius said, rolling up his homework and shoving it back in his school bag.

"No, you just have to do it until she doesn't think you fancy her anymore," Erica said. "It shouldn't take that long. And then once that happens, you could become her friend."

"But I don't want to be just her friend," James pointed out.

"If you ever want a chance at dating her, you're going to have to be her friend first," Erica said. "And friends don't stalk each other, or try to ruin each other's dates, or constantly ask each other out."

James frowned. "You really think this is going to work?"

"I know it will," she answered assuredly.

Sirius snorted as he looked between the two of them. "I don't know, it sounds a little daft to me. How exactly can you get a girl to notice you if you ignore her?"

"Like you know anything about girls," Erica said, looking at Sirius in annoyance. Of course he didn't understand, she was certain that girls simply fell at his feet no matter how he treated them.

"Oh, believe me, I know plenty about girls," Sirius smirked. Erica felt a strange pang of jealousy at his insinuation. She hated that she was still incredibly attracted to him. "And I'll bet you twenty galleons that your plan doesn't work."

Erica laughed, for once glad that she knew the future. "I'll bet you fifty galleons that they're together by the end of N.E.W.T.s."

Sirius looked at her in surprise. "You're on," he said, sounding as if he couldn't believe his luck.

"I am sitting right here!" James said, looking offended. "And thanks for the vote of confidence, Padfoot."

"Sorry, James," Sirius said, smiling cheekily at his friend. "But I think she's getting your hopes up."

"So you're going to bet against me?" James asked in mock indignation.

Sirius shrugged. "This will be the easiest fifty galleons I've ever made."

"You think so, do you?" Erica laughed. She got up and grabbed her homework before leaving the Gryffindor table. "See you in class!" she called over her shoulder.

"Hey! I wasn't done with that!" Peter said, looking down at his half-finished essay in a panic.

Erica was in the library later that day during one of her free periods, trying to rush through a Defense Against the Dark Arts essay on inferi. It was due in a little under two hours and she was just starting it, having completely forgotten about it until Lily mentioned it at lunch. And of course, Lily, being Lily, had refused to let Erica look over her already completed essay. Now, Erica was trying to quickly do as much research as she could on the subject while Madam Pince glared at her from across the library.

"That wasn't very nice, you know," Sirius whispered as he sat down at the table she was working at.

"What wasn't?" she asked, looking at him in confusion.

"Getting James's hopes up like that," he explained. "Making him think he actually has a chance with Evans."

Erica rolled her eyes. "I do think he has a chance with Evans!"

He shook his head. "Then you are just as barmy as he is."

She laughed quietly. "You'll see."

He ignored her comment, instead asking, "What are you working on?"

"The essay on Inferi," Erica said, looking down at the parchment that was nowhere near the two-foot requirement. "I completely forgot it was due today and Lily refused to help me with it."

"What a great friend," Sirius said, his voice sarcastic. "I can see why you'd want to set her up with James."

Erica rolled her eyes at him, not even bothering to respond. He reached into his bag and pulled out his own essay, placing it in front of her. "Thanks," Erica said, looking up at him in surprise.

Sirius shrugged, not quite meeting her eye. "I doubt I'll be able to get my fifty galleons from you if you flunk out," he said.

Erica chuckled. "I should have known there was some kind of selfish reason behind it."

"Of course," he smiled. He pulled out the reading that Flitwick had assigned for homework that day and got to work. Erica couldn't help staring at him. She had never really known Sirius to do his homework early, never mind actually spend time in the library. She couldn't tell if he was actually there or if she was possibly losing her mind. He looked up at her, far too aware of her gaze, and raised an eyebrow at her. "Can I help you?"

"No," she said, her face coloring with embarrassment. "It's just… really, thank you. For the essay."

He nodded. "You better start working on it or you'll never finish in time for class."

"Right," Erica said, turning back to her homework. She couldn't help looking back up at him every once in a while, though. What could she say? It was virtually impossible to ignore Sirius Black. As much as she didn't want to like him, she couldn't help noticing how good he looked when his long black hair fell into his stormy gray eyes. Even just sitting across the table from him made her stomach feel like it was doing back flips. And it was even harder not being attracted to him when he was finally starting to let his walls down around her.

She was just finishing her conclusion when the bell rang throughout the castle, signaling that students had only ten minutes left to get to their next class. She handed Sirius his essay back before stuffing hers in her bag. Once they left the library, Sirius turned to her and said, "You honestly think James has a chance?"

Erica rolled her eyes. She couldn't believe that he had such little faith in his friend. "Of course," she said. "I think with the proper amount of time and effort, he could get her to fancy him."

Sirius let out a bark of laughter. "And what would be the proper amount of time? Five years? Ten?"

Erica laughed. "No! I can't believe you don't think he can do this."

"I've watched him try, and fail spectacularly, for the past six years," Sirius pointed out.

"Right, probably because you gave him such crappy advice," Erica joked.

Sirius looked at her in mock offense. "My advice is not crappy! It's always worked well for me."

"And there's the reason," she laughed. "You have never tried to get a girl like Lily Evans."

"What the bloody hell is that supposed to mean?" Sirius asked, his brow furrowed in confusion.

"Look, I don't know what kind of girls you go for," she said, which was the absolute truth. She had not seen Sirius pursuing any girls since she had reached Hogwarts, which didn't match up with the stories she'd heard about him. Either he had gotten sick of dating numerous girls at once or he had just gotten better at hiding it. "But judging from what I've heard from Cassidy Wilson, the girls you've dated in the past are very different from Lily."

"You're right," he said. "They're not know-it-all prudes looking to suck the fun out of everything."

Erica rolled her eyes. She was about to defend her friend when a redheaded seventh year Gryffindor named Fabian Prewett stepped in front of them. "Hello Erica," he said, smiling nervously at her.

"Hey Fabian," she said, looking at him in confusion. She didn't realize she was on a first name basis with Fabian Prewett. He was extremely popular, mostly because he was an ace beater on the Gryffindor quidditch team, but he was also incredibly fit. He was tall and muscular with long dark red hair and clear blue eyes. She hadn't even realized that he knew who she was.

"Prewett," Sirius said, looking the redhead over warily.

"Black," Fabian said, nodding at Sirius. Then he turned back to Erica and asked, "Could I speak to you in private?"

"Actually," Sirius said. "We were just on our way to class so –"

"It will only take a minute," Fabian interrupted.

"Sure," Erica said, wondering what exactly he wanted to talk to her about. She was pretty sure this was the first time he had ever spoken to her. She was also confused by Sirius's reaction. He walked up the corridor, out of hearing range, and leaned against the wall. He was watching the two of them with this strange look on his face, a mixture of anger and disappointment.

Fabian sighed, looking a little annoyed. "Are you and Black together or something?"

Erica couldn't help laughing at that. "No," she said.

Fabian grinned, "Good."

He didn't say anything else, though, and Erica was starting to feel a little awkward. "So… what did you want to speak to me about?"

"Oh, right," he said, suddenly looking a little nervous. "I was just wondering if you'd be interested in going to Hogsmeade with me this weekend."

Erica felt the smile fall off her face. "I'm sorry, Fabian. I can't go into Hogsmeade."

"Well, we don't have to go to Hogsmeade," he said. "I'm sure we could find something to do around the castle."

Erica bit her lip, unsure of what to say. She was flattered that he was asking her out, but she didn't think it would be a good idea to get date anyone in the past. She was already a mess when it came to knowing the future of her friends, she could only imagine how much harder that would be if she got involved with someone. Plus, she didn't really know Fabian. She didn't have much experience when it came to relationships, or actually any experience at all, but she didn't think it would be a good idea to go out with a total stranger. There was a good chance that things would get extremely awkward very quickly. "I'm sorry, Fabian," she said softly. "I'm not really looking to date anyone right now."

"Alright," he said, not looking too upset over it. "I thought I'd give it a try."

She smiled sheepishly at him. "I better get to class now," she said, not really wanting to spend much more time in that weird awkward tension.

"Right," he said, moving so that she could walk by him. She was halfway to Sirius when she heard him call out her name. When she turned back, he smiled and said, "You let me know when you are looking, okay?"

She nodded, feeling her face heat up as she started to blush. "Okay," she said, before turning back around and hurrying over to Sirius.

"What was that about?" he asked curiously, quickly matching her steps on the way to their classroom.

"Nothing," Erica said, feeling more embarrassed by the second. She couldn't believe that Sirius had to be around for that, the first time she had ever been asked out on a date. She would have preferred to be walking to class with anyone else, even Severus Snape.

"No it wasn't," he said, looking at her shrewdly. "He asked you to go to Hogsmeade with him, didn't he?"

"How could you possibly know that?" she asked in shock. She was really starting to suspect that he was a mind reader.

"Your face is the same color red as your tie," he pointed out, laughing as she tried to whack his arm. "So what did you say?"

"You know I can't go to Hogsmeade," she answered.

"So? You don't have to go into Hogsmeade to go on a date."

She couldn't understand why he was so interested in her love life. "Right, which is why I told him that I don't want to date at the moment."

"Why not?" Sirius asked curiously.

Erica laughed bitterly. "I don't know if you've noticed but I'm kind of a mess," she said honestly. It was undeniable; she was in no position to enter into a relationship with anyone.

Sirius chuckled, "I have noticed that, actually."

Erica rolled her eyes and elbowed him in the side. They walked in silence after that, a strange mixture of emotions battling it out inside Erica. She felt pleased that Fabian had asked her out, it definitely boosted her self-esteem, but she couldn't help being disappointed at the same time. She was a little upset that she knew the bleak future of the first boy who ever asked her out on a date. She glanced over at Sirius when they reached the door of the Defense Against the Darks Arts classroom and noticed the giant grin on his face. "What are you so happy about?" she asked curiously.

Sirius shrugged. "I guess I just enjoy seeing Prewett get shut down," he smirked before walking over to his seat next to James.

* * *

**A/N:** I hope you guys liked this! Review and let me know :)


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

Time seemed to speed up after that. The teachers were piling the homework on them. Final exams were in three short months, as Professor McGonnagal loved pointing out, and how they did those tests would determine if they could continue their N.E.W.T.-level classes. Erica found that she was simply too busy doing schoolwork to do much of anything else. Even Sirius could be spotted working in the library, usually sitting with her. Everyone made a big deal about it, although Erica couldn't figure out why. All they did was homework, after all.

When she was alone, she worked on her timeline of future events. There had been no more attacks, thankfully, but Erica still felt terrible. Another one was coming up soon; she knew that Voldemort was going to go after the assistant to the Minister for Magic, Jonathan Martin, and she was quickly running out of time to prevent it. In fact, she was pretty sure she had less than twenty-four hours to say anything before the man died. She felt like there was a giant stopwatch hanging over her head. Between her moral crisis and all of her homework, Erica was certain that she was going to lose her mind.

And to make matters worse, it was her birthday. Or would eventually be her birthday. She was officially seventeen, meaning that she was considered an adult in the wizarding world. Or she was negative five years old. She wasn't really certain how the whole aging thing worked now that she was traveling through time, she would have to remember to ask Dumbledore about it the next time she went to his office. It was a strange feeling, though. No one knew that it was her birthday and she had managed to make it all the way to dinner without anyone finding out. It was definitely something she enjoyed, she didn't want anyone to make a big deal out of it, but it also made her feel a little lonely. Just like Christmas, her birthday only seemed to make the fact that she didn't belong there more apparent. And it made her miss her family even more. She hadn't been able to hide her feelings from Lily, though.

"Are you sure you're all right?" the redhead asked for the third time during dinner. "You've been really quiet and down all day."

Erica sighed. Maybe it would be easier to just tell her the truth, instead of insisting she was fine. That obviously wasn't working. "No, not really," she said, smiling sheepishly at her friend. "Today is just a weird day."

Lily raised an eyebrow at her friend. "Really? What was weird about it?" The day had seemed perfectly normal to her.

Erica shrugged and focused on her mashed potatoes. "Nothing really, I guess. It's just… well, it's my birthday and –"

"What? Why didn't you say anything?" Lily practically shouted, staring at her in shock.

Erica shrugged, a little alarmed by her friends reaction. "I didn't want to make a big deal over it."

"How old are you?" Lily asked. "Seventeen?" Erica nodded. "But that is a big deal!"

"What is?" Jenn asked as she joined them.

"Today is Erica's birthday!" Lily answered.

"Oh," Jenn said, looking confused. She turned to Erica and smiled. "Happy birthday!"

Erica smiled her thanks as Lily continued to badger her. "Why did you wait until now? We'll never be able to throw a proper party."

Erica raised an eyebrow at her friend. "I didn't know you were the partying type."

Lily sighed. "I can have fun every once in a while, you know." She spotted Potter leaving the Great Hall with Peter and jumped up, an idea hatching in her mind. "Meet me in the common room in an hour, alright?"

* * *

James was halfway up the giant staircase when Lily reached the Entry Hall. "Potter!" she called, trying to catch up with him. "Wait up!"

James stopped in his tracks and turned slowly, looking at Lily as if she had three heads. "Whatever it is you think I did, I swear that I didn't do it!" he said, wondering what she was going to accuse him of this time.

Peter sniggered. "Smooth, Prongs."

Lily held in a laugh, amused that she was able to make James this nervous. "Can I talk to you about something?" she asked. He nodded and she noticed that Peter was still standing there. "Uh, alone?"

Potter's eyebrows shot up so high that Lily wasn't quite sure if they had jumped off his face. He turned to Peter and muttered, "Beat it, Wormtail." Peter was looking at her strangely but he turned and left. James turned back to Lily and said, "I swear, Lily. I was in the library all afternoon, helping Peter with Transfiguration."

She laughed then and James felt even more confused. He thought he had been making a little progress with Lily, but he hadn't expected her to stop him in the middle of the entry hall for a chat. Well, unless a chat meant reaming him out for whatever prank she thought he had pulled this time. He probably would have pinched himself to make sure he wasn't dreaming, but he was too dumbstruck by what Lily said next. "Actually, I was hoping you could help me."

"With what?" he asked.

Lily looked around quickly before hurrying up the staircase and leading him into the nearest empty classroom. James was beaming at her, certain that he was dreaming now. "Look, it's Erica birthday," Lily explained in a rush. She wanted to get this over with quickly, she felt quite uncomfortable with the way he was looking at her, like he wanted to eat her or something. "And I know it's been weird for her. And, you know, we're all stressed about exams –"

"Wait," James said, feeling a little disappointed. "I'm not dreaming?"

Lily raised an eyebrow at him in confusion. "What are you babbling about?"

James shook his head, his cheeks coloring in embarrassment. "Nothing," he muttered. "It's Erica's birthday?"

"Look, I know you and your mates are planning to throw a huge party after the Quidditch final this weekend. If you give me some of your butterbeer, I won't bust you for it," Lily said. "And stop looking at me like I've grown another head."

James blinked, trying to not look so shocked. "Sorry," he said. "I just never imagined that you, Lily Evans, would be asking me for alcohol."

Lily rolled her eyes. "If you're going to act like this, I'll just ask Remus."

"No!" he said, a little too loudly. She had only recently started to treat him like he was a human being and not some crap on the bottom of his shoe and he didn't want to ruin it now. "I mean, sure, you can have some."

She looked at him expectantly while he just grinned at her. "Well, do you have it on your person or do you need to get it?" she asked finally.

"Oh, right," he said. "It's in my dorm. Come on." Lily nodded him and followed him out the door. They walked in an awkward silence that James was desperate to break. "So what were you planning to do?" he asked curiously.

"I don't know," she said honestly. "She only just told me so it's not like she's given me a lot of time to plan."

James looked perplexed by that. "Why'd she wait so long to say anything?"

Lily shrugged. "She probably didn't want anyone to make a big deal out of it."

"Yeah, but that's the best part about birthdays," James said. "You get to make a big deal out of it. And people give you gifts and pay attention to you and –"

Lily laughed. "For you, maybe."

James tried not to smile too hard at the fact that he was actually having a pleasant conversation with Lily Evans, or that he had actually just made her laugh. They fell into a comfortable silence after that, one that James was quite enjoying until they ran into Sirius in the Gryffindor common room.

Sirius looked between the two of them in confusion. "What's going on here?"

Lily rolled her eyes. "It's none of your business, Black."

"James, you didn't actually slip her some of that amortentia we nicked from Potions, did you? Because I was only joking when I suggested -"

"No!" James said, his face almost as red as a tomato.

At the same time, Lily said, "You nicked the strongest love potion in the world from Slughorn? What could you prats possibly need that for?"

James tried to force a smile while glaring at Sirius. "I don't know what potion you're referring to. I would never steal anything from our wonderful school."

"Well, technically, Remus was the –" Sirius started to say, smirking. He realized that James was probably going to try to flay him for this later but he was having too much fun embarrassing his friend to worry about that.

"Okay," Lily said. "I really don't care. Just… return it to Slughorn, okay?" She made a mental note to never accept any kind of food or drink from the Marauders again. "Now, can I have that butterbeer or what?"

"Lily Evans!" Sirius said, holding his hands to his chest in mock indignation. "I am scandalized! I would have thought you would have better sense than to try and get alcohol from riffraff like us!"

"Oh, shut up, Black," Lily rolled her eyes. "It's for Erica."

"Oh," Sirius said, dropping his hands to his side. "Enabling your friend's rampant alcoholism? I don't really think that's much better."

"She is not an alcoholic!" Lily said, her ears starting to turn red as she got more annoyed with Sirius.

James tried to hold in a groan. So his pleasant encounter with Lily Evans was officially over. He decided to butt in and end their bickering, or he knew Sirius would end up saying something rude that caused Lily to storm off without the butterbeer. And then somehow it would all get blamed on him. "It's her birthday," he explained. "Lily just wants to celebrate her birthday. And you drink far more than she does."

Sirius shot an exasperated look at his friend. "Are you sure she isn't trying to confiscate our alcohol? This could be Marlene McKinnon all over again."

James laughed. "Hey, you were the idiot fourth year that thought the hot, seventh-year prefect would want to drink alone with you in your dorm." Then he turned and looked at Lily in suspicion. "You aren't just trying to give me a detention, are you?"

Lily tried to look exasperated, but it was pretty hard when she was trying so hard not to laugh. "Of course not!"

"Are you sure?" he smiled. "Because it took us almost a year to get the selection up to par after McKinnon took it all."

"Plus we had detention for two months," Sirius added.

"Yes, you prat!" Lily said. "Now, are you going to get the butterbeer or do I have to write you up for being obnoxious?"

"I don't think obnoxiousness is a punishable offense," Sirius said thoughtfully. "Or else we would be forced to spend every waking moment in detention." He laughed at the look Lily was giving him, like she was ready to smash his head through a window. "I'll go get it for you," he said before racing up the stairs to his dormitory.

"Sorry," James said. "He can be a git sometimes."

"Sometimes?" Lily said, raising an eyebrow at him.

"That is a good point," James laughed.

Sirius was back quickly with a bottle of firewhiskey. "Here," he said, handing them over to Lily. "I figured Costello would enjoy that more than butterbeer."

"You didn't put anything in this, right?" she asked, looking at it suspiciously.

Sirius grinned. "You are so wonderful at showing appreciation. Really, I think it's your best quality."

Lily pursed her lips. "Right, thank you," she said grudgingly before running up the stairs to the girls' dormitory.

"She's so charming," Sirius said sarcastically.

James elbowed him hard in the side. "Did you really have to embarrass me like that?"

"Hey, if she can't accept you for who you really are then she's not worth it, mate," Sirius laughed. James tried to take a hit him on the arm but Sirius jumped out of the way. "Now come on, Remus came up with a brilliant idea for that Polyjuice Potion we nicked."

* * *

"Lily, I told you it wasn't a big deal," Erica said, rolling her eyes at the redhead as she pulled her up the stairs.

"I'm not making it into a big deal," Lily protested. "I just think we should have some fun tonight."

"By doing what?" Jenn asked curiously as Lily lead them over to her bed. She did a quick double check to make sure that they were completely alone before opening her bed curtains to reveal the bottle of firewhiskey. Jenn let out a loud, surprised laugh. "Lily Evans, where on earth did you get that?"

Lily shot an icy look at Jenn. "I have my ways," she said, not wanting to admit that she had gotten from bribing Potter.

Erica laughed. "So who did you confiscate it from?"

Lily rolled her eyes and sat down on her bed. The two other girls sat down next to her and she closed the curtains around them, not wanting the other girls that they shared the dormitory with to see what they were doing. She opened the bottle before taking a sip and passing it to Jen. "Well, if you must know, Potter gave it to me."

Jenn was so surprised that she started to choke on the sip she had just taken. Erica slapped her on the back as she laughed. "James gave this to you?"

Lily nodded. "The firewhiskey was Black's idea. I asked them for some butterbeer but he said you'd like this more." She took another sip of her drink before she asked, "What's going on with two of you, anyways?"

"What do you mean?" Erica asked.

Lily shrugged. "You've seemed almost friendly lately."

"Yeah, it's been driving Cassidy Wilson mad," Jenn laughed. "Do you know she actually asked me if you were sleeping with him the other night?"

"Oh god," Erica shook her head. "I hope you told her no, or she'll probably hex me in my sleep."

"Actually, I told her it was none of her damn business, so you might want to watch out," Jenn smirked.

"You aren't sleeping with him, right?" Lily said, looking incredibly curious.

"Of course not!" Erica said, looking at Lily in shock. "I know he's been a lot nicer to me lately but it's not because I'm shagging him. We're just friends."

"Friends?" Jenn said dubiously, raising an eyebrow at Erica. "When did that happen?"

"I don't know," Erica said, looking down at her hands. "Over Christmas break, I guess. And why does the fact that I'm friends with Sirius make everyone think that we're sleeping together?"

"It's just a little strange," Jenn pointed out. "He's never really befriended that many girls. Well, I mean, unless he was shagging them."

Erica rolled her eyes. "I've seen you guys studying together in the library," Lily said, making it sound like an accusation. "I didn't even think he knew where the library was!"

"He's just helping me out. You know how hopeless I am at Transfiguration," Erica said.

Lily couldn't deny that. Still, she found it strange. And apparently she wasn't the only one. "Yeah, but it's more than just helping you with Transfiguration," Jenn explained. "This is your first year here. You don't know what Sirius was like before."

"What was he like?" Erica said, feeling far more curious than she knew she should. Sirius and she had only started getting a long fairly recently. She shouldn't try to dig up dirt on him when their friendship was so unstable. Still, there was a part of her that wanted to learn whatever it could about Sirius Black.

"The same as he is now, really," Lily said. "He just… dated a lot of girls."

Jenn snorted. "I don't think you could call it dating. He just liked hooking up with whatever girls he could get, usually Cassidy Wilson or one of those girls that she hangs around with."

Lily laughed. "Until Cassidy Wilson made him take her to Hogsmeade last fall. Do you remember that?"

Jenn burst out into a fit of giggles. "Do you remember the color her face turned when she found him in The Three Broomsticks with Suzie Yarwell after he'd told her he had to get back to the castle to finish an essay?" She turned to Erica and explained, "It was this weird, reddish purple color. And she wouldn't stop talking about it! For weeks, all we would hear about was how that girl was trying to steal Sirius from her."

"Poor Suzie. They were brutal to her," Lily said somberly, shaking her head.

"I wonder why he stopped," Jenn said thoughtfully.

"Maybe he's just gotten better at hiding it," Erica suggested.

"No," Jenn said. "If he was still snogging Cassidy, she would make sure everyone in the castle knew about it."

Erica nodded. She didn't know Cassidy that well but she knew Jenn was telling the truth. She was sick of discussing Sirius, though. She didn't want to hear about how he used to snog whatever cute girl he could find or speculate as to why he had stopped. It's not like it really mattered. Although she still found him incredibly attractive, and the butterflies she felt dancing in her stomach whenever she was around him had only gotten worse since they had finally started being friendly, she knew that she had no chance with him. Not that she really wanted a chance in the first place. She was going to get back to her own time as soon as she could, and in the future, Sirius Black was dead.

Thinking about the future only made her feel worse, though. Time had run out for Minister for Magic's assistant and there was nothing that Erica could do about it now. Even if she ran to Dumbledore's office, she doubted he would be able to stop the attack that quickly. It was another death she could have prevented, another body that she couldn't help feeling responsible for. She grabbed the bottle of firewhiskey and took a large swig, hoping the alcohol would lessen the guilt, if only for a little while.

"Hey," Lily said, grabbing the bottle from her and taking a sip from it. "You need to share." When she noticed the strange look that Jenn was giving her, she asked, "What? Why are you looking at me like that?"

"I just – I never thought you'd be hiding in the dormitory, drinking firewhiskey," she explained. "I've never seen this side of you before. I like it."

Lily rolled her eyes. "I do know how to have fun. Besides, it's Erica's birthday! And we all needed a break from schoolwork. I swear, it's almost as if McGonnagal's forgotten that we don't have N.E.W.T.s until next year."

"Tell me about it," Erica said, frowning. She could see that Lily was about to go into one of her many, long-winded rants about schoolwork and how there was so much of it with no time to do it and decided to cut her off before she could start. "So how'd you get this from James, anyways?"

"I asked," Lily said.

"And he just gave it to you?" she asked.

"Are you kidding?" Jenn said. "That boy would probably rip his heart out of his chest and give it to her if she asked."

Lily sighed, "That might be going a little overboard. I just knew they were planning on throwing a party tomorrow for the Quidditch final and I told him that I wouldn't bust him if he shared some of his butterbeer."

Erica giggled. "And how did he react to that?"

"He thought he was dreaming!" Lily said, laughing

The other two girls joined in with her laughter. They spent the rest of the night like that, drinking and laughing as Lily and Jenn recounted stories of all of the crazy things the Marauders had pulled over the past few years. They didn't stop until Cassidy joined them in the dormitory, telling them to quiet down so she could get her beauty sleep, which of course only made them all erupt into giggles.

Erica hadn't realized just how much she had drank until she got up and stumbled over to her bed. She decided to not even bother changing, her head felt too light and Cassidy was already sniggering at the fact that she was having trouble walking. She climbed into bed in her uniform and tried to sleep, although it would not come. All she could think about was Jonathan Martin. Was he still alive or was he being attacked right now? And was she ever going to last in the 1970s? Judging by the insane amount of guilt she felt, she was quickly running out of options of dealing with this. She was beginning to think that she would either have to give Dumbledore the timeline she was working on or she would have to become some kind of recluse until the time turners were ready.

Finally, Erica couldn't take it anymore. The dormitory was dark and filled with the snores of her sleeping dorm mates. She knew that there was no way she was going to be able to fall sleep any time soon so she got up silently and snuck down into the common room. She sat on the couch in front of the fireplace, watching as the embers burnt out and trying to figure out what exactly was the right thing to do.

She wasn't sure how long she had been there when she heard someone coming down the staircase to the boys' dormitory. "Hey," Sirius said, sitting down next to her. "I was hoping I'd see you tonight."

"You were?" she asked in surprise, trying to ignore the butterflies dancing the tango in her stomach. She wasn't sure why her body reacted this way whenever she saw Sirius but she really needed to find a way to make it stop. He nodded before dropping a package of cauldron cakes onto her lap. "What's this?"

He shrugged. "A birthday present from James. They might be a little stale," he laughed. "He bought them from Honeydukes on the last Hogsmeade trip."

Erica tore the package open and bit into one. "Still good," she said, offering him one. "How'd you know I was down here, anyways?"

"You have a tendency to get drunk and wander around," he replied.

She laughed, unable to deny it. "Well, tell James I said thanks."

He nodded. They sat in silence after that. Sirius couldn't stop himself from watching her, though. He could tell that she was deep in thought from the way she stared determinedly at the dying fire, chewing on her bottom lip. The strange girl was like some kind of puzzle that he was desperate to put together, although he wasn't exactly sure why. He was starting to consider her a friend, which made him feel horrible for the way he had treated her at the beginning of the year. Still, there was something that nagged him, telling him that there was so much more to this girl than she wanted others to see.

"I wanted to talk to you about something," he said, finally breaking the quiet of the common room.

Erica turned to look at him in confusion. He scratched the back of his neck, looking a little embarrassed, and Erica couldn't figure out why. "What is it?" she asked.

He sighed in exasperation. "I was wrong about you, in the beginning of the year. I was convinced you were some terrible Death Eater for a really stupid reason and I was a total arse…" he trailed off as she started to giggle. It seemed like something in Erica had snapped as her giggles turned into loud laughter. "What's so funny?" he asked, a little insulted.

"No," she said. 'It's just… you were right about me."

He frowned in confusion. "Look, I'm trying to apologize here. I was a git, okay? And you didn't deserve that, especially after what you had just gone through." Instead of answering, she just laughed harder. He was really starting to feel annoyed now. "Why is this so hilarious?"

She knew that she shouldn't talk to him, or anyone, about this, but she just couldn't take it anymore. It felt like this had been building up inside of her for months, and now there was no way to stop the word vomit that was making its way up her throat. "Nothing," she finally answered, trying and failing to hold in her giggles. "It's just… Jonathan Martin would disagree. Believe me, I completely deserved it."

"Who the bloody hell is Jonathan Martin?" he asked, completely bewildered.

"The assistant to the Minister for Magic," she said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"Right. And why does the Minister for Magic's assistant hate you so much?" he asked, although he was starting to wonder if she was still drunk.

She stopped laughing and stared into the fire. When she finally spoke, she sounded incredibly sad as she said, "Because I could have stopped it. And I didn't. Please don't apologize to me, Sirius. I deserved it, every single second of it."

She was acting insane, but Sirius couldn't let her stop talking now that he was finally getting the truth from her. "Could have stopped what?"

She bit her bottom lip again before turning to look at him, her green eyes full of tears. He had the strangest impulse then, wanting to take her into his arms until she finally cheered up. He repressed it, though, knowing that he would never get the truth if he stopped her now. "His death," she said quietly.

He sighed in annoyance. "You're taking the piss, aren't you?"

"No!" she said, glaring at him. "You-Know – I mean, Voldemort's trying to use him to get to the Minister for Magic but it's not working. He's going to give it up as a bad job and send his Death Eaters after him. Tonight. And I knew! I could have done something to stop it but I just let him die!"

Right," he said skeptically, entirely convinced that she was smashed. "And how is it that you know Voldemort's plans?"

Her voice was low and frightened when she replied, "You'd never believe me."

"Try me," he challenged.

She stared at him, her big green eyes searching his. He wasn't sure what she was looking for but he hoped she found it. He was ready to get the truth out of this girl. Finally, she answered in a whisper, "I'm from the future."

Sirius let out a loud bark of laughter. "You really are pissed." He got up and held a hand out to her. "Come on, you need to go to bed."

Erica stared at him in disbelief. She couldn't understand this boy. He had been trying so hard to wheedle the truth out of her for so long but thought she was crazy when she actually told him. It was probably a good thing he didn't believe her, since she wasn't supposed to say a word about it to anyone. Still, she wished she could share this heavy burden with at least one other person. She was starting to feel like she was being crushed under the weight of it. She ignored his laughter and his hand, storming up to her dormitory before she said even more.

* * *

**A/N: **Thanks so much to GlidingOne and InsaneIsMyMiddleName for the reviews :) I love hearing what you guys are thinking about the story. I'm almost done editing 17 but I'm going away for the week. I'll try to post it within the next couple days if I can get an internet connection. Anyways, review and let me know what you think of this chapter!


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

Erica woke up with the mother of all headaches the next day. It felt like someone was pounding a large, loud drum right inside of her head. Her mouth was dry and she noticed that she was still wearing the same crumpled uniform as she had the day before. And something was nagging at her conscience. She couldn't figure out what it was but something just felt… wrong.

She looked over and saw that Lily had just woken up too, looking just as bad as she felt, while Jenn was still passed out and snoring much louder than normal. "I feel awful," Lily said, rubbing her eyes.

"Me too," Erica said, wondering if the sun had always been that bright. "And where is that drumming coming from?"

Lily let out a loud laugh before groaning and grabbing her forehead. "I don't hear any drumming," she finally answered.

"Lucky," Erica muttered as she got out of bed. She dragged herself over to the table between Lily and Jenn's beds and poured herself a glass of water. She gulped it down quickly before pouring another glass and handing it to her friend.

"Thanks," Lily said gratefully. She drank her water quickly before looking at the watch she kept next to her bed. "Shit!" she yelled, jumping out of bed. As soon as she was upright, she grabbed her head and moaned in pain.

"What are you yelling about?" Jenn said, her voice muffled by her pillow.

"We're late for breakfast!" Lily said, hurrying to her trunk and searching in it for a new uniform.

Jenn groaned. "The mere thought of food is making me nauseous."

Lily was quickly throwing her clothes on. "Breakfast will make you feel better. It always works for me."

Jenn rolled over to look at Lily. "Always? Lily, how many times have you done this before?"

Lily rolled her eyes, not bothering to answer her. "You need to get up," she said instead, running a brush through her hair.

"I'm not going to breakfast. I'll see you in Charms," Jenn said, rolling back over.

Lily pursed her lips as she looked down at her friend. "You better actually show up!"

"Yes, Mum," Jenn muttered.

Lily turned to Erica, who had just finished changing into a new uniform. "Are you ready?"

Erica nodded. She wasn't really looking forward to breakfast but she knew that if she stayed here, she would fall back asleep and miss all of her morning classes. Once they were in the common room, she asked, "She's not going to make it to Charms, is she?"

"Not a chance in hell," Lily laughed. She winced and grabbed her head. "Okay, no more laughing." They walked in silence after that, both of them recoiling from the bright sunlight that was streaming in the windows. The Great Hall was still packed when they reached it, and the noise only made their heads feel worse. They sat down near the end of the Gryffindor table and Erica poured herself a large cup of coffee while Lily piled eggs onto her plate.

"No offense, Lily, but I don't think that drinking last night was your best idea," Erica said after she drank half of her coffee.

"Probably not," Lily sighed, rubbing her temples. "But it was fun."

Erica smiled. "Yeah, my birthday wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it'd be."

At that moment, Sirius Black stormed up to the two of them and slammed a copy of the _Daily Prophet_ down in front of Erica. His jaw was clenched and his eyes were dark in fury. Erica looked at him in confusion before glancing down at the newspaper in front of her. And suddenly it felt as if she had been drenched in freezing cold water. The color drained from her face as she read the headline, '_Minister's Assistant Murdered by Death Eaters.'_ Her memory was flooded from memories of the night before. She couldn't believe she had completely forgotten about talking to Sirius, or telling him that she was from the future. "How did you know about this?" he spat out.

"Not here, Sirius, please," she whispered, trying not to shrink under his gaze.

Lily looked between the two of them, her eyes narrowed. "What's going on?"

Sirius ignored her, his angry eyes not straying from Erica's face. "You're one of them, aren't you? How else could you have known what would happen?" he asked, his voice getting louder as he went on. "And don't you dare give me that future bullocks again!"

His words were like a punch to the gut. She had actually enjoyed being on Sirius's good side, now she was right back to where she had started. Actually, it was even worse now that he knew her secret. It was only a matter of time before he started telling other people. She could feel her eyes filling with tears as she glanced up at the head table, where all the teachers were sitting. Even though he was at the other end of the Hall, she could feel Dumbledore's eyes on her as her face colored in shame. "It's not bullocks," she whispered.

Sirius scoffed. "Do you really expect me to believe –"

Erica wasn't sure what came over her then, she just knew that she couldn't let him shout out the fact that she was from the future in the Great Hall, in front of everyone. She shot out of her seat and pushed him backwards before racing out. Sirius looked at her in surprise before trying to follow her. "Oy!" Lily said, getting up as well and grabbing Sirius by the arm. "You leave her alone!"

"Butt out, Evans!" he growled, before shaking out of her grasp and hurrying after Erica. She was sprinting up the stairs when he got out into the Entrance Hall, and he finally caught her in an empty corridor on the fourth floor. "You can't just run away from this, Costello!" he said when he finally cornered her. "James trusted you, you know! This is going to kill him when he find out that you've been working for Voldemort this whole time! Were you supposed to find a way into the school for him?"

"No!" Erica said, hurt that he could even think that she was capable of that. "Of course not! I told you how I knew what was going to happen!"

"Oh, right, you're from the future," Sirius said sarcastically.

"See, I knew you wouldn't believe me!" Erica said, the tears finally spilling over.

"Because it's bullshit!" he spat back.

"No it's not!" she screamed, her frustration evident in her voice. She took a deep breath to calm down and said, "Sirius, you know me. You know I'm not –"

He cut her off. "All I know is that you're a liar!"

"I'm not a liar!" she replied. "Don't you think it's a little strange, how I just popped up out of nowhere and no one's ever heard about me or my family? How I just started school here with some flimsy excuse about being home-schooled until now?" Sirius nodded, his jaw still clenched in fury. "That's because I'm not from the 1970s! Look, I know it sounds crazy –"

"Completely insane," he interjected. He was breathing hard as he tried to calm himself down enough to listen to her. He wanted to hear her explanation; she seemed to genuinely believe it even though the words coming out of her mouth were complete nonsense.

"Believe me, I know," she said. "I was just minding my own business in 1997 when a messed up time turner deposited me into some random old lady's house in 1975! Then the stupid thing broke and it turns out, time turners haven't even been invented yet so I'm stuck here!"

His expression turned from confusion to disgust. "Let's say you are from 1997, that's how you knew this guy was going to be murdered by Voldemort?" She nodded. "Then why didn't you stop it? Didn't you tell Dumbledore what was going to happen?"

She bit her lip. "He didn't want me to tell him."

"What do you mean, he didn't want you to tell him?" Sirius asked, his brow furrowed in confusion. "You know everything that Voldemrt's going to do! You could stop him before things get even worse!"

"You don't understand!" she yelled, finally allowing her frustration to take over. Couldn't he see that it was eating her up inside, standing aside as Voldemort killed all of those people? But she wasn't ready to give up on ever seeing her family again. "I can't say anything! If I do, if I change things, I'll never be able to go back!"

"So you just let all those people die?" Sirius shouted. Erica had no answer for that. She knew it was terribly selfish, letting Voldemort and his followers continue on their dangerous path without trying to stop them, and she didn't need Sirius to remind her of that. She felt bad enough as it was. "You know, I thought it was bad when I suspected you were working for Voldemort," he said, his revulsion plain on his face as he began to back away from her. "But you're not a Death Eater, you're just a selfish coward, and the worst part is that I can't figure out if that's worse."

"Sirius," she said, reaching out to grab his arm. The strange friendship they had finally built was over, that much was clear to her, but she still felt like she had to explain. She wanted to make him see that she felt the exact same way about herself, that she had been wrestling with her selfish decision for months now. But maybe he was right. It didn't change the fact that she was sitting around, doing nothing. A good person would never stand idly by as innocent people were murdered, even if it might hurt them in the end.

"Don't touch me," he said, evading her hand. Then he spun on his heel and stormed off down the hallway.

Her breath caught in her throat as she realized he was probably on his way to tell James, Lily and the rest of her friends. And the worst part was that she knew she deserved this. The bell rang, signaling the start of the school day, but she couldn't take Charms class. Not now, when she felt like this. She turned and ran back to her dormitory, ignoring the strange looks the other students gave her as she pushed through them. Thankfully, Jenn was still sleeping when she got there, so she pulled the curtains around her bed and curled up underneath her covers, trying to keep the sobs at bay.

* * *

Sirius got to Charms early, sitting alone at the back desk he usually shared with Remus. He kept replaying his argument with Erica over in his mind. He couldn't believe it but he was actually beginning to think she was telling the truth; she was from the future. His hands clenched into fists at the thought. Somehow, that didn't seem much better than his original theories. Was that the reason why she always seemed to freak out at the news of recent attacks? How could she let those people die without even trying to stop them? And how could she let Voldemort continue on with his campaign of terrorism? Her knowledge of him could actually end this war once and for all and she was selfishly keeping it to herself. The more he thought about it, the angrier he seemed to get.

The rest of the Marauders joined him right as the bell rang. James sat down next to him, looking at him warily. He hadn't seen Sirius act this angry in a long time, and he was curious to know why it had been directed at Erica. "So what the hell was that about?" he muttered once Flitwick had started the lesson.

Before Sirius could say anything, Professor McGonnagall entered the room. "Professor Flitwick," she called from the doorway. "May I please see Mr. Black? The headmaster would like to speak with him."

He could feel the stares of everyone in the classroom as he got up. "I'll tell you later," he told James.

He followed McGonnagall down the hallway in silence. When they reached the gargoyle that stood sentry to Dumbledore's office, she said, "Lemon drop." The gargoyle jumped to the side and she held her hand out, gesturing for Sirius to step on to the rising staircase.

The door was open when Sirius reached it and he walked right in. Dumbledore was reading a piece of parchment at this desk, but he looked up when he heard Sirius's footsteps. "Ah, Mr. Black. Please take a seat," he said, gesturing to the chair in front of his desk.

Sirius sat down as he said, "Hello, Professor."

"I'm sure you're wondering why I wanted to speak with you," Dumbledore said kindly. Sirius nodded and he continued, "I couldn't help but notice the argument you were having with Miss Costello this morning."

"Sorry about that, sir," Sirius grimaced. He hadn't thought Erica would tattle on him to Dumbledore, but then again, he was all too aware of the fact that he didn't really know her at all. He had known there was something off about her; it had been quite obvious from the start that she was hiding something. He hadn't expected anything like this, though. In fact, he was beginning to wish that he had never learned the truth.

"Ah, it's perfectly normal for friends to have quarrels once in a while." Sirius wanted to interrupt and say that he and Erica were certainly not friends, not anymore, but Dumbledore continued, "Now, I didn't mean to eavesdrop, but it sounded as if you were accusing her of knowing about Jonathan Martin's death."

"I don't think it's considered eavesdropping since I was shouting, sir," Sirius said. Dumbledore's blue eyes twinkled but he didn't say anything, instead choosing to watch Sirius. Finally, Sirius sighed and said, "She knew he was going to be murdered. She said so last night."

"And did she say how she knew about this?" the headmaster asked curiously.

Sirius shifted uncomfortably. "She said she was from the future."

Dumbledore sat back in his chair and sighed. "And I'm sure you understand just how dangerous that information is?"

Sirius leaned forward and asked, "So it's true then?"

"Yes, Mr. Black, it is true." Dumbledore removed his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose, as if he had a massive headache. "I must warn you that this is very dangerous information. I need to know if you've told anyone else that Miss Costello is from the future." Sirius shook his head. Dumbledore studied him silently, for so long that it was starting to make Sirius uncomfortable. Finally, he said, "Good. If Voldemort knew she existed, I have no doubt in my mind that he would find some way to use her knowledge of future events to help him rise to power. You must never tell anyone, not even your friends."

Sirius frowned. He didn't like the idea of keeping things from his friends but he could see Dumbledore's point. "Yes, sir."

Dumbledore seemed to know that he was having doubts of keeping it a secret, though. "I must again impress upon you how important it is that this stays secret." Then he sighed and asked, "Do you suspect that she's told anyone else?"

Sirius's eyebrows shot up in surprise. Did this mean that even Dumbledore trusted her completely? "No," he answered truthfully. "I don't even think she meant to tell me. To be honest, sir, she was pretty, uh, drunk at the time."

Dumbledore looked even more troubled by that. "This is all my fault. I never should have expected her to go through this alone. I didn't know how much of a burden it would be to know the future and be unable to stop it. I could see how it was affecting her but I thought she would be able to pull through it."

"So you don't want her to use her knowledge to stop Voldemort?" Sirius asked, shocked. Dumbledore was at the forefront of Voldemort's opposition, he couldn't understand why he wouldn't see this as a wonderful opportunity.

"Her knowledge could possibly help us bring Voldemort down once and for all, but giving it up means that she'll never be able to go back home. It is a tough decision to make." Sirius didn't seem to think so, but somehow, the headmaster seemed to know what he was thinking. "It would seem that doing what's best for thousands, possibly millions, is the better choice, but that can be very hard to see when you've been ripped from your own life, never able to return. If Erica does help us, she might never see her friends or family again." The bell rang, signaling the end of first period. "You better be off to your next class. But please remember, Sirius, no one can know any of this."

"Yes, sir," Sirius said again as he got up, rushing out of Dumbledore's office. Instead of going to Transfiguration, he sat under a beech tree by the lake, lost in thought over the strange girl that had been dumped into his life because of a broken magical object. He was still furious with Erica, even though the talk with Dumbledore had allowed him to see her side of things. While Sirius wouldn't mind never seeing his family again, he didn't know if he would be able to survive without James, Remus and Peter. But still, he couldn't stop thinking about all of the attacks that had taken place since September, the numerous deaths and disappearances that Voldemort and his followers had caused. Couldn't she see that, in this case, it would be better to help thousands of innocent people instead of herself? And he couldn't stop thinking about the flimsy story she had given everyone at the beginning of the year, if it was even true or just bullocks. The weird thing was, that was what made him the angriest, the fact that she might have lied to him about everything.

* * *

Neither Erica nor Jenn had shown up by the end of Transfiguration and Lily was really starting to worry. She knew Jenn was probably still in bed, sleeping off her headache, but she had no idea where Erica was. She had been so upset when she fled the Great Hall, and she was certain that Sirius hadn't followed her to cheer her up. She had tried to follow them, but they had both been too fast for her. She hoped Erica had been able to evade Sirius as well. Lily had never seen him as furious as he had been that morning. It had all happened so fast, she wasn't able to make sense of it. It seemed as if he had been accusing Erica of being a Death Eater because of something on the front page of the newspaper. However, she couldn't see why the Minister's assistant's murder or the giant spotting in Newcastle had convinced him that she was working for Voldemort.

She spotted James and Remus as she was packing her things up at the end of class and hurried after them. James was talking to Remus about some kind of map when she caught up with them, but he stopped talking as soon as he saw her. "So what was that about?" she asked before he could say something stupid.

"You mean the scene at breakfast?" Remus asked. "We have no idea."

"What was he even angry about?" Lily persisted, unsure if he was just trying to cover for his friend.

"No idea," James said, trying to take Erica's advice and act normal around Lily, or at least as normal as possible. "He got all quiet when the _Prophet_ came, and then he practically ripped it out Remus's hands when he saw you and Erica walk in so he could shove it in her face."

"But why?" Lily asked, completely bewildered.

Remus shrugged. "It sounded like he was accusing her of being a Death Eater. But you were there so I'm sure you know more than we do."

"What were they arguing about, anyways?" James asked curiously. He couldn't pretend he hadn't been concerned when he saw Sirius flip out on Erica like that. Sirius had been completely enraged, and he was sure that Erica hadn't deserved it. He was a little disappointed too. He thought Sirius had finally stopped trying to prove that she was working for the darkest wizard alive but obviously he had been wrong.

"I think he was accusing her of being a Death Eater because of something he read in the paper," Lily said.

James frowned, "That doesn't make any sense."

"I know. And I haven't seen Erica since then," she sighed. "I'm going to go look for her. Maybe she's in the dormitory or something."

James nodded before saying, "Let me know if you find her."

She nodded before turning and hurrying up to the Gryffindor common room. Lily could see that he was genuinely concerned for Erica as well, and it surprised her. James Potter was many things, most of them bad, but it would be hard to deny that he was a caring friend. She had never really seen this side of him before and she couldn't see how it fit in with the bullying git that she had known in the past.

* * *

**A/N:** Thank you to GlidingOne and InsaneIsMyMiddleName for your reviews! And to everyone that has been putting this story on their alerts and favorites lists. I hope you guys like this chapter too! Review and let me know your thoughts :)


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18**

Erica kept going over her argument with Sirius in her head as she lay in bed, trying to muffle her sobs. It was the middle of the morning, so no one was in the dormitory except for Jenn, who was still sleeping, but she felt ashamed of her behavior all the same. She shouldn't let Sirius get to her like this; after all, he would never be able to completely understand her situation. His words still stung, though. She couldn't help wondering if they were true. She wasn't an idiot, she did realize that her reasons for doing nothing while Voldemort terrorized the country were extremely selfish but she wasn't sure many people would do things differently if they were in her position.

She couldn't believe she had told Sirius the truth either. She must have been incredibly pissed if she had thought that was a good idea. It was obvious that he would react this way; he had been searching for a reason to hate her since they met. Still, she thought things had finally been starting to change but obviously she had been wrong. And she couldn't figure out why that bothered her so much. Sirius Black had only recently stopped being such a jerk to her, but there was something about him that seemed to pull her in, like a strange magnetic force.

She heard the door to the dormitory burst open at lunch, right before Lily ripped open the curtains on her bed. "There you are!" Lily said, relieved. "I've been looking all over for you!"

"Oh, sorry," Erica said, sitting up and trying to quickly rub the tear tracks off her face.

"Don't apologize," Lily said exasperatedly as she sat down next to Erica. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Erica sighed. "Black's just a giant arse. There's not really much else to say."

"That's true," Lily chuckled. "But I thought he was over accusing you of being a Death Eater."

"So did I," Erica said, her voice cracking as she tried to hold in more tears.

Lily put her arm around her friend, wanting more than anything to cheer her up. "Do you want me to hex him for you? My bat-bogey hex is damn near perfect. Just ask Potter."

"I don't think so," Erica said, laughing weakly. "But I might change my mind."

"Well, let me know," Lily said. "I'd love an excuse to give Sirius what he deserved." Erica couldn't agree with that, though. Sirius didn't deserve to get hexed, she did. And she didn't deserve a friend like Lily either, one that tried so hard to cheer her up while Erica did nothing to change the horrible fate she would face in just a few years. That was when it hit her. Everything Sirius had said to her was the absolute truth. She was being selfish, and cowardly, and doing nothing made her just as bad as Voldemort and his followers, maybe even worse. Suddenly, all she could think about was the fact that Lily would be brutally murdered, along with James, by the most evil wizard in history. She would never get to see her son grow up. Before she left 1997, there had been rumors circulating that Harry Potter had been the Chosen One, that what had happened to his parents and him on that fateful Halloween night had somehow made him the only wizard alive that could defeat Voldemort. And she had a way to stop that, to set things up so that Lily's son wouldn't be plagued with that terrible destiny. Instead, he could grow up with his parents, alive and whole, with no thought given to You-Know-Who.

She didn't even deserve to be allowed in the same room as Lily. She stood up suddenly, trying to ignore the hurt look on Lily's face. "I'm sorry, Lily," she said. "I appreciate this, really, but I just need to be alone right now."

"Oh, okay," she heard Lily say as she ran out the door, practically knocking a scared first-year over on the stairs down to the common room. She was out the portrait hole so fast that the few people in the common room barely noticed her. She wasn't really sure where she was going, just that she had to get away from everyone. Unfortunately for her, she ran into Professor Dumbledore in her haste to get away.

"Ah, Miss Costello," Dumbledore said, his gaze lingering on her swollen red eyes. "Rushing off to your next class?"

"Well, actually, sir…" Erica trailed off, unsure of what to say to that. She couldn't exactly tell the headmaster that she had planned on skiving off class, but she figured he would somehow know if she was lying to him.

"Good," he replied, apparently deciding to ignore her non-answer. "I was hoping I would be able to speak to you this afternoon. Let's go to my office."

Erica followed Dumbledore down the corridor to the stone gargoyle. She hadn't even realized she had been so close to his office. When she was finally seated across from him in his office, she bit her lip before saying, "I'm guessing this is about what happened this morning."

"You would be correct," Dumbledore said.

Erica could feel her face heating up in shame. "I am so sorry about that, Professor Dumbledore. I don't even remember telling Sirius about it."

"Mr. Black has already filled me in on the details of what happened," Dumbledore said. "And while I would like to remind you that alcohol is forbidden on school premises, I can not fault you for telling him."

"You can't?" Erica asked in surprise.

"Miss Costello, I know how hard it has been for you, trying to do nothing while those around you suffer," he said. "But that doesn't make you a bad person. Someone who was truly bad, evil to the core, would feel nothing, while you have been torturing yourself for months."

"What does it matter if it makes me feel bad?" she asked. "It doesn't change the fact that I'm not doing anything."

"Because you want to go home," Dumbledore said. "No one can blame you for that."

"Sirius can," Erica said, remembering the harsh things he had said all too well.

"I think Mister Black will come around," he replied. "And I have already talked to him about how dangerous that information is. I don't believe he will be sharing it with anyone." Erica could only nod, too relieved to speak. At least she didn't have to worry about him spilling the beans to James or Lily. "However, I feel I must remind you that you can not share this with anyone else. We are lucky that Mister Black has agreed not to say anything, but we may not be so fortunate next time. You can not take this chance again."

"Yes, sir," Erica nodded, feeling properly ashamed of herself. She never should have said anything.

"And I wanted to apologize to you, Miss Costello," Dumbledore continued.

"Apologize?" Erica asked, bewildered. What did he have to apologize for?

"I didn't realize that living in the past, standing by as you watched these terrible events unfold, would take such a toll on you," he said. "If you would like, I could make arrangements to have you stashed outside of Hogwarts until the time turners are ready."

"That won't be necessary," Erica muttered as she got up to leave.

"Think it over," Dumbledore requested. "It is not a decision to be made hastily."

"Yes, sir," Erica said before leaving his office, feeling ashamed. He could have sent her off to live alone, or with a guard, as soon as she had been dropped into 1975. Instead, he trusted her enough to keep her mouth shut that he allowed her to stay at the school. It didn't matter how guilty she had felt, or how drunk she had been, Dumbledore had thought she was strong enough to deal with it and the fact that she wasn't made her feel about an inch tall.

She was walking away from his office, the corridor empty because afternoon classes had already started, when someone turned the corner. Erica groaned as soon as she recognized the tall, lean frame and shaggy black hair of Sirius Black. He was the last person she wanted to see, so of course he was the only one around.

He sneered when he saw her. "Running to Dumbledore? Well, you don't have to worry. He's already told me that I can't say anything."

"I wasn't running to him," she said defensively. "He just wanted to make sure that I don't tell anyone else."

Sirius smirked. "Doesn't trust you very much, does he?" Erica tried to ignore him, so he continued, "Well, I can see why he wouldn't. Cowards are not very trustworthy, are they?"

"I am not a coward!" she shouted, her anger crashing over her like a tidal wave. "It's so easy for you to judge me, isn't it? You've never had to choose between saving complete strangers and seeing your family again!"

"It doesn't matter," Sirius retorted. "You can help thousands or you can help yourself. I think the choice there is obvious."

"Of course it's obvious to you! You don't even like your family," Erica said. Sirius glared at her, a muscle twitching in his jaw. He couldn't believe that she would throw this in his face now. "But what if it were James? Or Remus? Or Peter?" she asked. "What if you had to choose between never seeing them again or helping someone you've never met?"

She had a point there, but Sirius didn't want to admit it. "I thought your family was killed by Voldemort," he said. "Was that just another lie?" Erica was silent and he grinned, a cruel look on his face. "I knew it! Everything that comes out of your mouth is total bullocks, isn't it?"

"Well I couldn't exactly tell everyone that my family wasn't around because they were actually twenty years in the future," she replied. He just shook his head at her and she tried to explain. "Even if I do try to change something, that doesn't mean things will automatically get better! I could end up doing even more damage!"

"Is that what you tell yourself so you can sleep at night?" Sirius asked, his voice dripping with revulsion.

"Fuck you, Sirius," Erica spat out before pushing past him. She hid in the first broom cupboard she found, not wanting to see who else she could run into while she tried to get away. She was so angry that she was shaking, and the fact that her vision was blurring with tears was only making her angrier. She hated that Sirius affected her like this. She was pretty sure that most of the tears she had shed in the past six months had been because of something he'd said. She sat down against the back wall of the closet, clutching her knees to her chest as she started to cry again.

She decided then and there that this would be the last time she'd allow Sirius Black to get under her skin like this. That strange pull she felt towards him didn't matter, it was clear that they were not meant to be anything more than acquaintances. He didn't want to be her friend, and frankly, she was sick of being treated like a criminal. She would just have to keep her distance, or maybe even pretend as if he didn't exist, whatever would keep any contact at a minimum. Hopefully, James would understand. She didn't want to lose him too but she needed to cut Sirius out of her life. She was done with feeling ashamed of herself. Instead, she would be strong, like Dumbledore believed she could be. If he hadn't, he would have never let her stay at Hogwarts. She would not allow herself to slip again. No one else could know that she was from the future.

It was late afternoon when she decided that she needed to stop hiding. She had stopped crying long before, instead falling into a strange numb state. Her eyes were still red and swollen when she went to dinner but she didn't really care what she looked like at that moment. When she got to the Great Hall, it felt like everyone was staring at her. She knew she was just imagining it but she still sat as far from the other students as she could. It wasn't long before Lily and Jenn joined her.

"How are you doing?" Lily asked gently, approaching her as if she were some kind of wounded animal.

"I'm fine now," Erica said, forcing a smile. "I'm really sorry about earlier."

"You don't need to apologize," Lily said, sitting down next to the brunette. "I'm just glad you're okay." Erica nodded, pushing her food around her plate. She had felt ravenous earlier, having missed breakfast and lunch, but now that she was in the Great Hall, she wasn't that hungry.

Jenn watched her for a moment before asking, "What happened, anyways?"

Erica shrugged. "I've no idea," she lied. "I think I said something while I was drunk last night and it offended him."

"So that's where you went last night?" Jenn asked. Erica looked at her curiously. "I was feeling pretty sick," she explained, smiling sheepishly. "I heard you leave."

"Yeah," Erica said. "I honestly didn't even remember it until he started shouting at me."

Jenn shook her head. "What an arse!"

"My offer still stands," Lily smirked.

Erica laughed. "I'm still thinking about it."

Lily nodded, happy that she had gotten the girl to laugh. Then she pulled two stacks of paper out of her bag and handed them to both of her friends. "Well, I covered for the both of you in class today and got your homework assignments."

Jenn narrowed her eyes at the pile of parchment in her hands. "Wow, thanks," she said sarcastically.

Erica groaned when she read it over. "Another essay in Charms?"

Lily sighed. "I know. Flitwick has really been piling it on lately. Don't worry, we can start working on it tomorrow night."

The Marauders were on their way out of the Great Hall, choosing that moment to walk by. James stopped at the sight of her, while Sirius paused only long enough to shoot her a look of contempt before continuing on his way out. Erica didn't even bother looking at him, not wanting to waste any more time on Sirius Black. Peter looked between James and Sirius in confusion and Remus smiled at the three girls apologetically before they both followed Sirius. James frowned at his friends' backs before sitting down next to her. "Are you alright?" he asked in concern, his eyes taking in her disheveled state.

"Yes," Erica said, stopping herself from rolling her eyes. She was flattered by everyone's concerns but she really was fine now, what had just happened only making her feel better about her decision to cut Sirius out of her life. She cleared her throat and said, "Look, James, I don't know what Sirius said about –"

James cut her off. "He won't say anything, just that he was wrong about you being a Death Eater," he said. "He still seems really angry, though. What happened, anyways?"

"I said something stupid last night while I was drunk," she explained. "And I think I struck a nerve."

James snorted. "Oh, you think so?" Erica laughed as well. "Well, I'm glad you're okay. And not a Death Eater," James smiled before getting up. "See you later!" He turned and left the Great Hall, going to meet up with his friends in the common room.

"Wow," Jenn said, staring at the spot where James had been sitting in amazement. "He barely even acknowledged you, Lily."

Lily raised an eyebrow at her friend, not exactly sure why that was a big deal. "So?"

Jenn shrugged. "I don't know, it's just weird. Normally he can't even be in the same room with you without showing off."

"Maybe he's changing," Erica pointed out.

Lily snorted. "I doubt it. He's just concerned about you. It's actually kind of sweet." Both girls looked at her in alarm and she rolled her eyes. "It is! Don't look at me like that!" she laughed.

* * *

"What was that about?" Peter asked curiously as he followed Sirius up the stairs.

"Nothing, Wormtail," Sirius muttered.

"Do you really expect us to believe that?" Remus asked, hurrying to catch up with his friend. He had been just as shocked as everyone else at Sirius's outburst that morning, but he didn't think it had anything to do with whatever he read in the Daily Prophet that morning or because he suspected Erica was one of Voldemort's followers. He could tell that it went deeper than that. "What happened between the two of you, anyways?"

Sirius started walking faster, as if he wanted nothing more than to run away from this conversation. "Will you please stop asking me that?"

"Technically, James was the one who kept asking you at dinner," Peter pointed out.

Sirius sighed in exasperation. "Look, nothing happened between us. I thought she was working for Voldemort but she's not. End of story."

"Then why are you still so angry?" Remus asked curiously.

"Because she's still a shitty person," Sirius explained, "Even if she isn't a Death Eater."

"I thought you were getting on with her?" Peter asked, confused.

"You thought wrong," Sirius snapped.

James caught up with them by then. "That was quite rude," he said, frowning at his friend.

"I don't really care," Sirius said as he continued towards the common room. "And why are you standing up for her? Need I remind you that I've been your best friend for six years?"

"I didn't mean it like that," James replied. "I'm sorry Sirius, really, but it's just that, well… I know how you can be."

"Thanks for telling me that I'm horrible," Sirius scoffed. "It's really great hearing that from your best mate."

"I'm not saying you're horrible!" James said defensively. "You just have a tendency to overreact sometimes. And it's not like I have a lot to go on!"

Sirius groaned. He did feel horrible, having to keep this from his friends. He wondered briefly if this was how Erica felt, before realizing that he didn't really care. If she was content to just let people die then she deserved to feel horrible. "I already told you," he said, "I can't tell you. It's not my secret to tell." James frowned. He didn't really have anything to say to that. If it was Erica's secret then he couldn't push Sirius for it, he would just have to wait until the Erica told him herself.

"What I don't understand is why she told you," Remus pointed out. James nodded eagerly as Moony voiced his thoughts.

Sirius sighed in exasperation as they climbed in the portrait hole to the common room. "Right," he said, ignoring Remus. "Are we going to work on this map or keep gossiping like a bunch of women?"

* * *

**A/N:** Sorry it took so long to get this one up! I just got a puppy and she ate right through the charger for my laptop and the new one took forever to get here. I hope you guys liked this chapter enough that it was worth the wait, haha. Please review and let me know what you think! :) And a huge thank you goes out to GlidingOne and InsaneIsMyMiddleName for reviewing the last chapter!


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19**

It took Sirius over two weeks to realize that he might have overreacted slightly. While he was still angry that Erica did nothing while Voldemort killed innocent people, he realized that he wouldn't be able to convince her to use her knowledge for good by shouting at her and making her feel like shit. He wasn't sure if he was ready to apologize, though. He might have overreacted but his point still stood. Doing nothing just so she could see her family – the family she had lied about being killed – was selfish and cowardly, and he had thought she was so much better than that. That was the weird thing, too. The more he thought about it, he realized that the Voldemort thing wasn't what was bothering him the most. It was the fact that she had kept it to herself. After spending most of the Christmas break with her and Peter, he had actually started to change his mind about her. They had become closer, or at least he thought they had. He had been open with her, telling her things about his family that he'd never told James or the rest of his friends. All this time, she'd been holding herself back and feeding him a bunch of bullocks. If he was being honest with himself, he felt betrayed. And the weird thing was, he actually missed her. He didn't know how it was possible, because he was still angry with her, but he also missed spending time with her. He had been able to talk to her about anything. She was different from other girls in the school, she was actually good at bantering with him and his friends instead of dissolving into a fit of giggles every time he said something to her. And he liked the fact that he could sit with her without her demanding to know what he was thinking about. Even James had a hard time doing that. There were times when he saw her working in the common room or library and he would get the strange impulse to go up to her and apologize. But then he would remind himself why they were fighting in the first place and the impulse would disappear.

"Moony, I thought you said you couldn't apparate anywhere in Hogwarts," James said, as they made their way to their first Apparation lesson out on the grounds.

"You can't," Remus replied. "Dumbledore must have lifted the charm for the lesson."

"Won't that mean that anyone could apparate into Hogwarts then?" Peter asked, looking a little frightened.

"No, I think it's probably modified so that you can't apparate unless you're already on the grounds," Remus explained.

"I bet you five galleons that I'm the first one to apparate," James said confidently.

Sirius laughed. "I bet you ten that you're the first to splinch yourself," he countered.

"I will not splinch myself!" James said in mock indignation. "The last time I checked, I'm the only one that's done side-along apparation."

Lily and Jenn were walking out of the Great Hall at that moment and heard James. Sirius wondered where Erica was before reminding himself that he didn't care. "You've done side-along apparation?" Jenn said, looking a little impressed.

"What did it feel like?" Lily asked. Sirius eyed the redhead curiously. He had noticed that she had actually been, well, _nice_ to James lately. It was starting to freak him out a little.

"Like I was being squeezed through a straw," James answered truthfully.

Lily looked alarmed. "That sounds horrible!"

James shrugged. "It's only for a couple seconds."

They reached the area of the grounds where they were holding the lesson. Most of the sixth years were gathered in a large group while the Heads of Houses stood in front of them with another wizard, who had to be the instructor. He was quite small with a frail build and wispy blonde hair. "Good morning," he said after a couple minutes. "My name is Wilkie Twycross and I shall be your Minisitry Apparition instructor for the next twelve weeks. I hope to –"

"You're late, Miss Costello!" Professor McGonagall yelled, interrupting him.

Everyone turned to see Erica running across the lawn, her face red in embarrassment. "Sorry Professor," she gasped, holding her side.

"As I was saying," Twycross said. "I hope to be able to prepare you for your Apparation tests, which will be taking place in Hogsmeade once these lessons are complete. They will be open to all students who have turned seventeen by the date of the test. Now, it is usually impossible to Apparate or Disapparate inside Hogwarts but the headmaster has lifted the enchantment on this section of the lawn for one hour so you will be able to practice. I must emphasize that you will not be able to Apparate anywhere else inside Hogwarts and you would be very unwise to try. I would like each of you to place yourselves now so that you have a clear five feet space in front of you."

There was a lot of scrambling as people tried to stand near their friends. In the end, Sirius ended up being in the last row, with Remus and Peter at his sides and James standing in front of him. Erica was standing next to him and he could hear their conversation.

"Did you see that?" James asked. "That's the third time she's sought me out to talk to me!" Sirius snorted and James turned to scowl at him. "Okay, maybe she wasn't actually seeking me out that time but she did before!"

"Funny how no one was around to see it, though," Sirius said.

"Remus and Peter were there one time!" James protested.

"I believe you, James," Erica said.

"And she hasn't insulted me in over a month!" James gushed. "I think your advice is really working."

Erica smiled at him. "I told you it would."

Sirius scoffed. "It's not nice to make fun of him like that, Costello."

"Shut up, Sirius!" James said, clearly annoyed. Erica didn't even react, though. She stared blankly ahead as if she hadn't heard him and Sirius couldn't figure out why that bothered him so much.

At that moment, McGonnagall, Flitwick, Sprout and Slughorn all started yelling for the students to calm down. Once silence had fallen, Twycross said, "Thank you. Now then…" He waved his wand and wooden hoops appeared on the ground in front of each student. "The important thing to remember when Apparating are the three D's! Destination, Determination, Deliberation! Step one…" Sirius tuned the tiny man out after that. He couldn't stop watching Erica, who was staring intently at the instructor. Obviously she was still angry with him, although the thought only frustrated him. He was the one with the reason to be angry, after all.

He heard Twycross shout, "THREE!" and everyone around him turned on the spot, except for Peter, who leaped into his hoop. "Never mind, never mind," Twycross said dryly. He didn't look like he had been expecting anything other than a bunch of dizzy teenagers. "Adjust your hoops and back to your original positions, please! Remember, fix your mind upon your _destination_, focus your _determination_ on that space and turn with _deliberation_. Now, let's try again!" The next few tries were just as bad as the first. On the sixth try, a Ravenclaw named Marlon Greyjoy made it into his hoop. Unfortunately for him, his right leg decided to stay behind. The teachers all ran to him as he screamed in pain. There was a great bang and puff of purple smoke and suddenly, he was whole again inside his hoop.

"Splinching is the separation of random body parts," Twycross said, sounding as seeing someone's leg separated from their body was an everyday occurrence. "And it occurs when the mind is insufficiently determined. You must concentrate continuously upon your destination and move, without haste, but with deliberation!" He spun on the spot and disappeared with a small pop, reappearing ten feet from where he had been standing. "Remember the three D's and try again!"

"I've got a couple D's for him," James muttered in frustration.

"Dismember? Decapitate?" Erica whispered, trying to hold in a laugh.

"I was going more for decking him but I like the way you think," James smiled. He turned to watch Wilkie Twycross berate a Hufflepuff named Bertram Aubrey for not turning deliberately enough for a moment before asking, "Will you be able to take the test in Hogsmeade after this?"

"I've no idea," Erica said sadly. "But I wanted to learn so... here I am."

"I think I felt a little tingling in my feet that time!" Peter said excitedly.

Sirius sniggered. "Your shoes are too small, Wormtail."

No one had made any progress by the time the lesson was over, and only Greyjoy had managed to splinch himself. Erica had spent most of the lesson joking around with James, Remus and Peter but had blatantly ignored everything that he'd said. He could tell that Remus had noticed how cold she was being too by the sympathetic looks he kept shooting Sirius. "Okay, that's enough practice for now!" Twycross yelled. "I'll see you all back here next week. And remember the three D's! Destination, Determination and Deliberation!"

"Are you doing anything now?" Erica asked James as the rest of the students started to leave, excitedly talking about what they'd just learned. He shook his head. "Do you think you could help me with that essay on vanishing spells?"

"Sure," he smiled.

"Oh, do you think you could help me too?" Peter asked.

James nodded before turning to Remus and Sirius. "Do you guys want to come too?"

Erica finally turned to look at Sirius and he felt his stomach drop. He would have understood if she had looked angry, or even hurt, but she was just completely blank, as if she couldn't care less about him or what he did. And as much as he didn't want it to, it bothered him. It bothered him a lot. "Nah, mate," he said. "I wouldn't be caught dead in the library on a Saturday." Then he turned and walked towards the lake, not even bothering to say goodbye to his friends.

He hadn't gotten very far when he heard footsteps behind him, as Remus hurried to catch up. They walked in silence for a while, Remus trying to figure out how to get Sirius out of his sullen mood. Finally, Remus said, "That was rough."

"What was?" Sirius asked, trying to feign ignorance. Remus shot him a knowing look and he sighed. "I guess. It's not like I care or anything."

"Is that what you're telling yourself?" Remus asked curiously.

Sirius elbowed Remus in the side. They walked in silence after that. It was one of the things that Sirius liked the most about Remus, he knew when Sirius needed to think and didn't interrupt him. Finally, he said, "So maybe I care a little."

Remus smirked. "I think you care more than a little."

"Well, it's not like it matters," Sirius said. "You saw the way she was acting. It was like I was some mud on the bottom of her trainers or something."

"Well, no offense, mate," Remus said, "but you kind of deserve it."

Sirius scratched the back of his neck, his cheeks coloring in shame. "Yeah, I guess so."

"What was it that made you so angry, anyways?" Remus asked. "And don't say that it's her secret. I know it's more than that."

Sirius sat down under a beech tree near the lake as he thought this over and Remus sat down next to him. "She'd been lying to me," he said finally. "I thought I was finally figuring out who she was when it turns out that I didn't really know her at all." Remus nodded. He knew that trust was a big thing with Sirius, so it didn't really surprise him that he had reacted in that way when it was broken. And he could tell that, for whatever reason, the girl meant a lot more to Sirius than he was willing to admit. "And I overreacted," Sirius admitted. "I know that. But she just made me so angry."

"Yeah, I noticed that," Remus laughed.

"There's just something about that girl, she's constantly getting under my skin," Sirius said, shaking his head. "I know you're going to tell me to apologize and the weird thing is, I had a bunch of reasons why I shouldn't have to but now I can't think of any of them."

"I think that means that you need to just do it, then," Remus said. Instead of answering him, Sirius groaned and placed his head in his hands.

* * *

By the end of the next week, James was convinced that he was going crazy. Lily Evans was actually being nice to him. He hadn't asked her out in months and he couldn't even remember the last time she had yelled at him, or pointed out what she believed were his many flaws. She'd even asked him for alcohol! If he didn't know any better, he'd think they were becoming friends. He wanted to talk to Erica about it, eager to see if he was right or just hallucinating, but he was pretty sure that she was avoiding him. She seemed to spend all of her time in the library with Lily, assuming that his fear of setting off Evans would keep him away.

His recent success with the redhead had made him more confident, however, and he honestly missed talking to his friend. When he spotted Erica sitting in a remote corner of the library with Lily that night, he decided to finally confront her. He sat down next to her and determinedly ignored Lily as he asked, "Are you avoiding me?"

Erica looked up at him in alarm. "What?" she said. "No, of course not!"

"Then where have you been all week?" he asked, glaring at her accusingly.

"I've been busy," she muttered, turning back to the book in front of her.

"She's avoiding Sirius," Lily said. Erica glared at her and she shrugged. "It's about time you made up with Potter. No offense but you're starting to drive me crazy." Lily glared at the quill that Erica was tapping on the desk before turning back to her essay.

Erica laughed, "Thanks a lot."

"Wait, made up with me?" James asked. "Were we fighting? What did I do?'

"Nothing," she sighed. "It's just that, well… you're always with Sirius. I know he's your best mate but I don't really want to be around him right now. I didn't want to make you choose so… I just kind of took myself out of the equation."

James frowned. "Look, I know Sirius is sorry for flipping out like that. Maybe if you would just give him a chance to apologize –"

"Why should she?" Lily cut in. "He's always yelling at her or accusing her of something. He's not worth it, if you ask me."

He wasn't asking her, but James decided it would be better not to say that out loud. He didn't want to ruin the small bit of progress he'd been making with one angry remark. Erica simply sighed, her voice sad as she replied, "It's true, James. It's quite obvious that Sirius and I will never be able to be friends so why even bother trying?"

"But you were friends!" he protested.

"For about a month, until he decided that he didn't trust me anymore," Erica said, rolling her eyes. Being his friend had only made it hurt more when he started accusing her of being a Death Eater again, but she wasn't going to mention that. "No. I'm better off without Sirius in my life. There's so much less drama. In fact, I've managed to go three whole weeks without being accused of something."

"And there haven't been any screaming matches in the hallways," Lily supplied.

"Exactly," Erica said, smiling at Lily. "See? Things are much better now."

James didn't particularly agree with that, though. He knew Sirius missed her, even if he never said anything, and he was pretty sure that she missed him too but he could tell that he wasn't going to get her to admit that tonight. He sighed as he got up and said, "Well, don't be a stranger. You can always just tell Sirius to bugger off the next time you want to hang out."

Erica smiled. "I just might do that."

James smiled back before leaving the library in search of his friends. He had a feeling that he would have to be the one seeking her out for a while, at least until she stopped being stubborn and forgave Sirius. He had no idea when that would happen but hopefully it would be soon. It was horrible, having two friends that wouldn't speak to each other. He felt like he was placed in the middle of them, both sides pulling at him. The common room was almost empty by the time he reached it and only Sirius was in their dormitory, laying on his bed and reading a Quidditch magazine.

"Where's Remus and Peter?" he asked curiously.

"Remus went looking for you and Peter had detention with Slughorn," Sirius replied.

"Oh right," James said, chuckling at the memory of Peter chucking a dungbomb into Bradley Avery's cauldron in the middle of their last Potions class. The whole thing had exploded, covering the sixth year Slytherin in dung and swelling solution.

"Where have you been, anyways?" Sirius asked. "I thought we were going to the work on the map."

The Map was James's best idea yet. After the last full moon, he had realized that no one knew Hogwarts better than they did and he was pretty sure that no one else spent as much sneaking around it as they did. The invisibility cloak had been pretty useful when they were little first years, but they had outgrown it quickly and now it could barely cover two of them. But James had realized that if they put their superior knowledge of Hogwarts into making a map, and then made it so this map also tracked the whereabouts of every person inside the grounds, they would be unstoppable. However, plotting the castle had been more difficult than they first realized. The castle was very protective of its secrets, and getting some of them committed to paper had taken some pretty complicated magic Now they simply had to find the right tracking spell to put on it. "I was in the library," James explained.

"Did you find anything yet?" Sirius asked.

James shook his head. "Nothing," he said. "I did run into Lily and Erica, though."

"Oh yeah?" he asked disinterestedly, going back to his magazine. "Did Evans declare her undying love for you yet?"

"Unfortunately, no," James sighed dramatically as he fell back on his own bed. "It's all a matter of time, though." Sirius snorted at that. They sat in silence after that, Sirius pretending to read while his friend scrutinized him. Finally, James said rather loudly, "I can't take this anymore!"

Sirius looked at his friend as if he thought had finally snapped. "Can't take what, mate?"

"You and Erica pretending like you don't care!" James said in exasperation. "I don't understand why you won't just apologize to her."

Sirius pursed his lips, annoyed. "Butt out of it, James."

"No," James said. "It's obvious that you miss hanging around with her –"

"Oh Merlin," Sirius interrupted. "This isn't another one of your theories about me fancying her, is it? Because I've told you a thousand times –"

James cut him off. "No, it's not that! But I know you liked her. As a friend," James said, emphasizing the friend part. "And I can tell that she misses you too."

"How?" Sirius asked skeptically. "She's been acting like I don't even exist."

"Because she watches you whenever she thinks no one's paying attention," James explained, waving his hand dismissively. "So if you would just swallow your pride and apologize then everything can go back to normal."

Sirius's eyebrows were raised in surprise. She had been watching him? He was beginning to think that she hated him. It was an easy assumption to make from the way she treated him like a complete non-entity. She would barely look at him whenever they were together and she wouldn't speak to him, instead choosing to act as if she could never hear a word that he said. "I don't think it's going to work, Prongs."

"Then you make it work!" James insisted.

"And how am I supposed to do that?" Sirius asked.

"Are you asking James for advice on girls?" Remus asked from the doorway. "Do you really think that's a wise idea?"

James laughed and threw his pillow at Remus, who quickly dodged it. "Where have you been anyways, Moony?"

"Looking for you," Remus replied. "I had a great idea for the map."

"What is it?" James asked curiously.

"What if we gave it a password?" Remus said excitedly. James looked at him in confusion and he explained, "You know, a set of words that only we know. That way, if we ever get caught with it, we can wipe it clean and it will look just like any piece of dirty old parchment."

James grinned. "That's brilliant, Moony!"

Remus smiled back. "I knew you'd like it." Then he grabbed his bookbag and tipped it over, three heavy library books falling out. "I think there's a spell like that in one of these books."

"Always so prepared," James laughed before grabbing one of the books and flipping through it excitedly. Sirius grabbed one too, turning the pages half-heartedly. He couldn't stop thinking about what James had said about Erica. His friend had been right; he did miss being friends with the girl. Maybe it was time to just apologize to her. And if she didn't accept it the first time, he would just have to take a page out of James's Apologizing to Girls handbook and follow her around, annoying her until she gave in. He just hoped that she didn't hold a grudge like Evans did.

* * *

**A/N:** A huge thank you goes out to GlidingOne and InsaneIsMyMiddleName for their reviews on the last chapter! I hop everyone likes this one and remember to tell me what you think!


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20**

"Are you sure you don't want me to stay and help you study?" Lily asked Erica as she shifted nervously on her feet. They were standing in the Entrance Hall after breakfast that Saturday, waiting for Lily's date to show up. It was a Hogsmeade weekend and she had agreed to go to The Three Broomsticks with Nathanial Archibald, a fifth year Hufflepuff.

"Why are you trying to get out of your date?" Erica asked curiously. "I thought you liked this guy."

"I do," Lily said, glancing around the hall. "I'm just nervous."

Erica rolled her eyes. Like Lily had any reason to be nervous. She was one of the prettiest girls that Erica had ever met, and it seemed like she didn't even realize how beautiful she was. She could tell that the boys in Hogwarts had noticed, though. James was pretty much madly in love with her, although he had thankfully stopped being so blatant about it, and other random boys were constantly asking her out. This was the first time Lily had actually been nervous for a date, though. "Well, if it's horrible, you can always join me in the library," Erica said.

Lily bit her lip. "Don't tempt me. And I swear, if Potter tries to mess this up for me –"

"He won't." Or at least Erica hoped he wouldn't, he had gotten much better lately. She spotted Nathanial's light blonde hair and pointed him out to her friend.

Lily said, "I'll see you at dinner, then." Then she took a deep breath before walking over to him, looking as if she thought she was off to the slaughterhouse.

"Have fun," Erica called after her.

Lily shot her a quick smile before disappearing into the crowd. Erica turned to head back up to the common room, but she hadn't gone more than three steps before running into James and Peter. "She's dating Archibald?" James asked, looking after the redhead in a combination of shock and disgust. "Archibald? Really? I thought she had better taste than that."

"Well, she has managed to stay away from you all these years," Erica pointed out. "You've got to give her credit for that."

Peter sniggered as James scowled. "Is she really going out with him?" he asked.

"Yes," Erica said. "And you better leave her alone in Hogsmeade if you ever want a chance with her."

"Whatever," James grumbled, watching Lily and Nathanial walk out the door.

"I mean it, James," Erica said, trying and failing to sound threatening. "You'll ruin all of the progress you've made."

"Fine," he said, rolling his eyes. "We're only going into the village to get some more firewhiskey. Our stores are embarrassingly low."

"Alcoholics," Erica joked, shaking her head.

"You drank more than half of it!" James laughed.

Erica shoved him playfully. "See you later," she said before turning and climbing the stairs. She wasn't really looking forward to her Saturday. She had essays to write for Defense Against the Dark Arts and Potions, essays that she had been putting off for almost a week now. But with Lily, Jenn and James in Hogsmeade, she really had no other options. Well, unless she felt like wandering around the castle aimlessly, but that didn't sound like much fun. With her luck, she'd probably run right into Snape and she was pretty sure that he hated her almost as much as he hated the Marauders. The castle was pretty deserted, most of the students in or above the third year had opted to go to Hogsmeade on the clear, chilly spring day, so she wasn't that surprised to find the common room almost empty. She grabbed her things from her dormitory before sitting at a table by an open window, across the room from a handful of first and second years.

She was halfway through her Defense Against the Dark Arts essay when the portrait hole opened and Sirius Black crawled back inside. He glanced at her before sitting in an armchair by the fire and she could feel her heart rate picking up. It had been three weeks since she had decided to cut Sirius out of her life completely and it hadn't exactly been easy. She could understand where he was coming from, after all. He had been suspicious of her from the beginning, and right when he was finally starting to trust her, he found out that she actually was a bit of threat. After all, if Voldemort found out about her, he would want to use her knowledge of future events. And she couldn't exactly fault him for being upset with her for doing nothing to stop him, either. She had moments where she was disgusted with herself for her inaction too, but she simply couldn't give up the chance of seeing her family again. Still, her life was so much easier now that she wasn't constantly wondering when the other shoe would drop and he would hate her again. The strangest part, though, was that a small part of her actually felt relieved. Even if they weren't on speaking terms, it was nice having at least one person out there that knew her secret.

She had been staring at him absentmindedly, lost in thought. When he finally looked up, she could feel her cheeks warming as she quickly glanced down at her essay, silently cursing herself. That was the problem with ignoring Sirius Black. He was still one of the best-looking blokes that she had ever seen and her pulse still raced every time she was in the same room as him. When she glanced back up, she noticed that he was looking right at her as he walked across the common room. Her heart jumped up into her throat as she froze in her seat.

"Hey," he said warily. "Is this seat taken?"

She stared at him, unsure of what to do. Sirius had seemed to pick up on the fact that she was ignoring him quickly and stopped trying to talk to her at all. The only few times she had actually been around him was when she unexpectedly ran into James around the castle. Finally, she shook her head and he sat down across from her. She could feel her muscles tightening up, as if her body was unconsciously getting ready to run.

The air between them was thick with tension. Sirius sighed, "Look, I am really sorry about what I said to you the other day."

She narrowed her eyes at him. "Is this some kind of joke?"

He shook his head. "I was an arse, okay? I shouldn't have gone off on you like that." An uncomfortable silence fell over the table. Sirius cleared his throat and said, "Right, well, I just wanted to say that. You can go back to ignoring me now."

He was halfway out of his chair when Erica said, "Wait." She knew she might end up regretting this but she couldn't stop herself. Besides, if she could at least be civil with Sirius, things with James wouldn't be so awkward. He sat back down, looking at her warily. It was almost as if he thought she was going to tear his head off. She nodded to the book in his hand, which looked ancient. "What are you working on?"

"Secret Marauder business," he answered.

"Looks exciting," she said sarcastically.

He sighed. "Not really, but it will lead to more exciting things."

"I don't think I want to know," she said. She turned back to her essay as he opened the book and began reading. It wasn't long before she felt his eyes on her face, though. "What?"

"Can I just ask you one thing?" he asked. She nodded, although she wasn't sure if she wanted to hear his questions. It's not like she could tell him anything about the future. "The whole Voldemort thing –"

"Really?" she groaned. It hadn't even ten minutes and she was already regretting forgiving him.

"Don't go!" he protested as she started throwing her things into her bag. "I'm don't want to start a fight, I'm trying to understand."

"I don't have to explain myself to you!" she hissed, rolling up her essay.

"Erica," he said, grabbing her hand to stop her. It felt like an electric shock going through her body but she couldn't make herself pull away. "I can tell that it's eating you up. I just can't figure out why you won't do anything when it's hurting you too."

She sighed as she sat back in her chair. She couldn't tell if she was walking into some kind of trap, but the lure of actually being able to tell the absolute, complete truth to someone for the first time in over six months was too strong. "Let's go for a walk," she said, eyeing the group of girls on the other side of the common room watching them intently.

She ran her things back up to her room and then left with Sirius. Once they were a safe distance from the common room, she said, "I just lost my mum, Sirius. I can't handle losing the rest of my family too. Everything I told you in that broom cupboard was true, they were completely falling apart but I still miss them every day."

"So your mum really was attacked?" he asked. She shot him a dark look and he held his hands up. "I'm just trying to figure out the truth."

Erica sighed. She couldn't really fault him for doubting the story she'd given him before. "Yeah. July 12, 1997, also known as the worst day of my life."

"And the rest of your family?"

"They were still alive when I left," she said. "But what was I supposed to say? They're in 1997. And if I do this, I will never be able to go back to them."

"Why not?" he asked.

"Because the future I'm from will cease to exist," she explained.

Sirius frowned. "You couldn't see them now?"

"And what am I going to do, waltz into their flat and announce that I'm the daughter they haven't even had yet, visiting from twenty some-odd years in the future?" she asked. "I'm sure that would go over well." She ran a hand through her hair in frustration. "I know it's selfish. I know it, and I feel terrible about it, but I can't give up on seeing them again. Not yet."'

"Don't you ever think that maybe this was supposed to happen?" Sirius asked. "Maybe you were sent back in time to stop things before they got too bad?"

Erica sighed. "But what if I do change things and it just gets worse? It can go both ways, you know."

Sirius was silent as he stared ahead, lost in thought. Eventually he nodded and said, "Okay."

"Do you understand now?" she asked.

"I get it," he answered. "I might not agree but I get it." Erica sighed. It seemed like this would have to be one of those things that they agreed to disagree on and she wasn't sure if that would go over well. Sirius looked at her strangely then. "You haven't been born yet?"

Erica let out a loud laugh. "I was born in 1981."

He started laughing as well. "That means you're what, negative five right now?" Erica nodded. They were out on the grounds by then and Sirius lead her to a beech tree by the lake. Once they were both seated underneath it, he asked, "So what's it like being in the past?"

"Really fucking strange," she laughed, so glad that she finally had someone that she could actually talk to this about. Well, someone that wasn't Dumbledore, anyways. "Especially when I run into people I've met before, like Professor Dumbledore. He looks exactly the same too."

"Have you met any of us before?" Sirius inquired. Erica bit her lip and he sighed. "I'm not asking for a life story! I'm just wondering if you knew any of us in the future."

"Fine," she said. "I knew Remus, kind of. We weren't friends, obviously, since I was twelve and he was an adult but…" Sirius laughed. "Where is Remus, anyways?" she asked. "Did he go into Hogsmeade too?"

"No," Sirius said, scratching the back of his neck. "He's in the hospital wing."

"Is he okay?" she asked, worriedly.

"Yeah, he'll be fine in a couple days," Sirius said dismissively. "Don't worry about it."

Erica knew that there had been a full moon the night before. She knew it probably wasn't a good idea, but the curiosity was starting to kill her. "Is he already a werewolf?" she whispered.

Sirius's eyes were wide in alarm. "How –"

Erica cut him off. "It's kind of common knowledge in the future," she explained. Then she shook her head. "Poor Remus." Sirius was looking at her strangely, as if she was some kind of bomb that was bound to go off at any second. "Don't worry, I'm not going to say anything."

"You've known this whole time?" Sirius asked. "And it doesn't bother you at all?"

"Why would it bother me?" Erica asked in confusion.

Sirius shrugged, trying to hold in a smile as he said, "You should tell Remus that you know. And that it doesn't bother you."

"Okay," Erica said, turning to look back out at the lake.

"Is that how you knew Snape?" Sirius asked. Erica nodded, not really trusting herself to say anything about the future Death Eater. Sirius watched her, trying to read the expression on her face. "He's a Death Eater, isn't he?"

"You know I can't tell you," she replied, trying to keep her expression blank.

He scowled, taking that as a confirmation. "Figures." He sat in silence after that, watching some first years try to skip rocks on the other side of the lake and working up the nerve to ask his next question. "What about Regulus Black? Was he a Death Eater too?"

"I've never heard of him," she said. "Is that your brother?"

He nodded. He scowled at the lake for a few minutes before turning to her and saying, "One last question."

"What?" she asked warily.

"Will you tell me who wins the next few Quidditch Cups? I know this guy that always gives me great odds –"

Erica laughed and shoved him playfully. "I am not helping you make sporting bets!"

"Why not?" he grinned. "Think of all the galleons we could make!"

They stayed by the lake for hours, talking and laughing as he tried to get Quidditch scores out of her. Erica was ashamed to admit that she had actually told him some. She couldn't deny how happy she was to be like this with him again. And it was such a relief having someone that she could finally talk to about all of this, someone that she could tell the truth to. She knew Sirius would never tell anyone her secret, he was incredibly loyal and would never dream of betraying a friend, which she hoped she was again. By the time they went back inside, dinner was being served and everyone was back from Hogsmeade. Peter and James were sitting near the door but Lily and Jenn were at the opposite end of the Gryffindor table. She said goodbye to Sirius and hurried over to her friends, ignoring the grin on James's face.

"Hey," Erica said as she down next to Jenn. "How was Hogsmeade?"

"Boring," Jenn said. She had gone into Hogsmeade with her friend, Nancy Martell, a sixth year from Hufflepuff. "We ran into Nancy's boyfriend after only an hour and she ditched me for him."

"I thought they were fighting?" Lily asked.

"Not anymore, apparently," Jenn sighed. "Anyways, I ended up coming back early and working on Potions."

"Sounds exciting," Erica said sarcastically. Then she turned to Lily and asked, "How was your date?"

Lily blushed as she grinned. "It was great!" she gushed. "He was so sweet, and funny, and he didn't even try to take me to Madam Puddifoot's."

Erica smiled, happy that her friend had had a good time. "Are you going to see him again?" Jenn inquired.

"Yes," Lily said. "We're going to meet up in the library tomorrow."

"A date in the library?" Jenn asked, bewildered.

Erica laughed. "It can't surprise you! It was only a matter of time before Lily found someone as nutty as she is."

"I am not crazy!" Lily said indignantly. "We just both have a lot of homework to do and we want to see each other so, this was the best option."

Jenn shook her head. "I don't understand how you're not in Ravenclaw," she joked.

"Well, actually, the sorting hat contemplated putting me in Ravenclaw but ultimately it decided that I belonged in Gryffindor," Lily said, grinning.

"That's not surprising," Erica remarked.

Lily rolled her eyes before asking, "So what did you do today? Did you finish your essays?"

"Well, I finished one of them," Erica said, smiling sheepishly. "I wasn't able to work on my Potions one." She sighed dramatically. "It looks like you'll just have to help me with it."

Lily narrowed her eyes at her friend. "How convenient," she said, her voice dripping in sarcasm.

"So what else did you do?" Jenn asked curiously. "It couldn't have taken you all day to write one essay."

Lily snorted. "You've obviously never seen her do her schoolwork before."

"Hey!" Erica said, trying to sound offended. The effect was ruined by her laughter, though. "Actually, I was hanging out with Sirius."

Both girls looked at her in shock. "Sirius?" Jenn asked, raising an eyebrow. "Sirius Black?"

"He's the only Sirius that I know," Erica said, trying not to roll her eyes at her friends. She really didn't think it was that much of a surprise. She had never been very good at holding grudges. In fact, she was surprised that she had lasted as long as she had.

"So you're, what? Friends with him again?" Lily looked disgusted at the idea. Erica nodded and she continued, "Are you sure that's a good idea?"

"Why wouldn't it be?" Erica asked, perplexed.

"Well, he's a bit of a prat," Jenn pointed out. "Especially to you."

"I think a lot of that was because he felt threatened, you know? He's a pretty guarded person, and he's protective of his friends. Then I showed up and he had no idea who I was and I kind of just inserted myself into his group of friends," she said. "But we're past that now. I hope." Plus, she seemed to have a very difficult time staying away from him, although she didn't want to tell her friends that.

"I think those emotions are way too complex for Sirius Black," Jenn said.

Lily looked at her friend warily. "I hope so, too," she said. "Because I will hex him into next year if he hurts you again."

* * *

Sirius was on the way back to the common room, after visiting Remus in the hospital wing. Madam Pomfrey had kicked him out, claiming that Remus needed rest, but Sirius knew it was because she would be bringing him to the Whomping Willow soon. Once Remus was safely inside the Shrieking Shack, the rest of the marauders would sneak out of the castle and join him in their animagi forms.

There was still time, though, so Sirius was wandering the hallways, lost in thought. He was so glad that he had finally taken James's advice and apologized to Erica. Of course, he could do without James gloating about how great his idea was. And now James was back to insisting that Sirius fancied her. The worst part was that Sirius was beginning to think that James was right, although he would never let James know that. There was something about that girl that kept drawing him in, even when he tried to resist it. He had only known her for six months and yet he felt closer to her than he did to any of the other girls he had actually dated. It was stupid, though. He knew that she wasn't looking to date anyone, after all. What would be the point, when she was planning on going back to 1997 as soon as she could?

He wasn't paying much attention to where he was going and he bumped into someone's shoulder without even realizing that there were other people in the hallway. "Sorry," he muttered.

"Watch where you're going, Black," Snape sneered.

Sirius whipped around, quickly pulling his wand out of his pocket. He scowled at the greasy-haired Slytherin, who had also drawn his wand. "What are you lurking around here for, Snivellus? Are you trying to find some shampoo?"

Before Severus could answer, Regulus Black turned the corner. "Are you sure it's in this hallway, Snape? I could have sworn…" he trailed off as he noticed the two of them standing there with their wands pointed at each other. Sirius felt his stomach drop. Not only was this a very bad situation to find himself in, being cornered by two Slytherins in an empty hallway, but he'd taken great care to avoid his brother this year, not wanting to be reminded of his family. He silently cast _Expelliarmus_ and jabbed his wand at them. Severus tried to cast a shielding spell but Sirius had been too quick for them, both of their wands landing in his outstretched hand. Regulus frowned, "What are you doing here, blood traitor?"

"It's funny, Regulus," Sirius retorted. "Your mouth is moving but all I can hear is our dear mother."

"And what's wrong with that?" Regulus asked.

"Never could think for yourself, could you?" Sirius asked, the bitterness creeping into his voice. He had tried to help his little brother in the beginning, wanting him to see that their parents' way of doing things was wrong. Regulus had actually believed him, or at least Sirius thought he had, right up until Sirius left for Hogwarts. Once Regulus was alone with Walburga, their mother, she sunk her claws into him and he started sprouting the same pureblood crap as the rest of the Blacks. When Regulus had been sorted into Slytherin the next year, he been completely lost to Sirius's cause, no matter how hard Sirius tried. "You're just following this greasy-haired weasel around now, aren't you?"

"Were you just visiting your boyfriend in the hospital wing?" Snape sneered. "I find it very strange that Madam Pomfrey makes him stay in there all day while she takes him out for walks at sunset."

Sirius tried to control his reaction to that, although he didn't think that he succeeded. Snape had been unusually obsessed with Remus's absences for a few years now but Sirius hadn't realized that he moved on to stalking his friend. "What are you talking about?" Sirius asked, trying to look bewildered.

"I've seen him out there," Snape said. "Tell me, what illness does he have that requires nightly visits to the Whomping Willow?"

It was like something inside Sirius snapped. He had had enough of this greasy-haired slimeball following around his friends, trying his best to get them in trouble. "Get out of here, Regulus," he growled.

"No!" Regulus said indignantly. "You've got my wand!"

Sirius took both of their wands and chucked them out the open window.

"Hey!" Regulus yelled.

Snape sighed in annoyance. "Go look for the wands, Regulus."

Regulus shot him an angry look before storming off down the hall. Seeing that his younger brother was doing Snape's bidding only seemed to make Sirius angrier. "You're stalking Remus now?" Sirius asked. "I'll have to make sure he knows that you care so much."

Snape frowned. "I'm going to find out what he's up to, Black. And when I do, I'm going to make sure that you and your little friends all get expelled for it."

"You want to know what Remus is doing down there?" Sirius asked, his hands balled up into fists. "Why don't you go down to the Whomping Willow and see? There's a knot in one of the roots that freezes the tree if you press on it. Then you can slip inside a hole in the roots near there to a tunnel that will lead you right to Remus."

Snape narrowed his eyes in suspicion before walking past Sirius, making sure to bump his shoulder as he passed. Sirius watched him go with a smile on his face, glad that Snape was finally going to get what was coming to him for being such a nosey git.

* * *

**A/N:** Sorry it's taken me so long to post this chapter :\ I hit a bit of writer's block and I've been really busy this summer. I'll try not to take so long next time! Let me know what you think! And thanks to GlidingOne for reviewing the last chapter and everyone that's been adding it to their favorites and alerts :)


	21. Chapter 21

**Chapter 21**

When Sirius got back to the dormitory, James and Peter were lounging on their beds, Peter was reading a Herbology book while James stared at the piece of old parchment that they had turned into the Marauder's Map. "Padfoot!" James jumped off his bed as soon as Sirius walked in the door. "Look! We finally got it!"

He thrust the map into Sirius's face and Sirius could see millions of little dots, each of them labeled, moving around the drawing of the castle. "Excellent!" Sirius said, grabbing the map from him to study it.

"Peter found the spell in one of those charms books you nicked from the restricted section," James explained. "It was pretty difficult but we managed it. Now we just need Remus to put that locking charm on it and it'll be ready!" Sirius gave it back to him and he sat down on his bed to read it, clearly very proud of what they'd accomplished.

Peter was still watching Sirius, though. "What are you so happy about?" he asked, suspiciously eyeing the sneaky smile on Sirius's face.

"Come on, Pete," James grinned. "You know why Sirius won't stop grinning like an idiot. He finally made up with his lady love."

"Lady love?" Sirius raised an eyebrow at his friend. "And you seriously wonder why you can't get a date?"

James grabbed one of the library books off his bed and chucked it at Sirius. "How's Remus, anyways?"

"Fine," Sirius answered. "Pomfrey was getting ready to take him down to the Whomping Willow."

"Excellent," Peter said, smiling down at his Herbology book. Although the full moon was usually a time of misery for Remus, the other Marauders looked forward to it. It was exhilarating in a way, changing into their illegal animagi forms and playing with a werewolf in the Forbidden Forest. It was the reason why they knew so many of Hogwarts secrets, they were able to run around the grounds with no teachers there to stop them. And the fact that they had Remus with them meant that the other creatures in the Forbidden Forest kept their distance.

Sirius grinned before grabbing his cloak. He couldn't help imagining the look on Snape's face when he got to the Shrieking Shack. Normally, they would have waited about an hour after Remus went to the Whomping Willow to sneak out because he didn't want them there as he transformed. However, Sirius was anxious to see his prank play out. Plus, he wanted to be there to make sure that nothing went wrong. He wanted Snape to get what he deserved for snooping around like the nosey little git that he was but he didn't want him dead.

James looked at him strangely. "Where are you going?"

Sirius smirked. "I'm just in the middle of the best prank I've ever thought of."

He turned to leave but James jumped from his bed and stood in the doorway. "What prank?" James asked eagerly, excited to finally have something to do besides read boring, smelly library books. Peter looked up from his homework and watched them in interest.

Sirius laughed. "I ran into my brother and Snivellus on my way back to the hospital wing," he said, as if that explained everything.

James frowned, a little confused. Regulus was usually a pretty touchy subject with Sirius, so he didn't quite understand why seeing him with Snape had made Sirius so happy. "What'd you do?" he asked cautiously, hoping that Sirius hadn't done something stupid.

"I threw their wands out a window."

"Nice," Peter said.

"Yeah, and after Snivellus sent Regulus to find them, he made some cryptic comments about seeing Remus and Madam Pomfrey out on the grounds, near the Whomping Willow," Sirius said.

James froze in place. "Snape saw them?" he asked, his voice low and full of fear. "He doesn't know anything, does he?"

"Not yet," Sirius replied.

James felt his muscles tense up. He didn't like the way this was going at all and he really hoped that Sirius hadn't done something stupid out of anger. "What do you mean, not yet?" he asked, his voice flat.

Sirius looked at him in confusion. He couldn't understand why he was suddenly so angry. He thought his idea had been brilliant. "He's been stalking Remus, trying to figure out a way to get him expelled!"

"Sirius, what did you do?" James asked, starting to look a little panicked.

"Well, I told him how to get into the tunnel under the Whomping Willow!" Sirius said defensively. "It's not like Dumbledore's going to expel Remus for that! Hell, if we're lucky, he might even expel Snape for sticking his overgrown nose where it doesn't belong."

"You did what?!" James screamed, his voice full of anger as he pushed Sirius. "What is wrong with you, Padfoot? What if he finds out? Didn't you stop and think about what this would do to –" James stopped himself, his eyes going wide. He turned to the window to see that the sun was sinking behind the forbidden forest. "Oh shit! Moony!" James said before running to his bed and picking up the map. He could see a tiny dot on the grounds labeled Severus Snape, heading towards the Whomping Willow. He turned and bolted out of the room without saying anything else.

Peter shot Sirius a look of shock before running after James. "Wait!" Sirius called out, ignoring the strange looks of the other Gryffindors in the common room as he raced after them. He outran Peter easily but James's years of Quidditch had made him faster than Sirius and he wasn't able to explain. He hadn't meant to get Snape killed or anything. He had planned to be there as Padfoot to keep Remus in line and he couldn't understand why James was reacting this way. Besides, Snape was finally going to get exactly what he deserved for being such a creepy little snoop.

He finally caught up with James at the Whomping Willow. "Moony could kill him, Sirius!" James shouted, as he searched the ground for the long stick that the school nurse often used to hit the knot in the root that would freeze the violent tree. "What were you thinking?"

"I was going to stop him!" he said, completely confused by James's reaction.

"How?" James demanded as he finally found a stick long enough. "How the bloody hell were you going to stop him when he's already down there?" He slipped inside the tunnel without waiting for an answer. Sirius could hear James yelling for Snape as he sprinted down the tunnel so he quickly changed into Padfoot and raced after him.

James spotted Snape when he was halfway to the Shrieking Shack, the greasy-haired boy hurrying as fast as he could down the tunnel. Unfortunately, Severus was almost at the stairs that would lead up to the Remus, who was probably almost done transforming into a werewolf. "Snape!" James yelled again. "Stop!"

"Bugger off, Potter!" Snape said, trying to stay upright as he stumbled over the uneven ground.

"You don't want to go down there," James shouted, gaining ground on Snape. Suddenly he was appreciative of the numerous quidditch practices that Gideon Prewett, the Gryffindor quidditch captian, had held that year. "Trust me!"

"Why would I do that?" Snape sneered, panting as he tried to run faster. "I'm finally going to get you and your friends expelled!"

"That's not Remus up there!" James yelled desperately. It was true; it wasn't really Remus up there, not really, but he doubted that the Slytherin boy would see it that way. He was trying to do anything he could to stop Snape from opening that door. Not that he was particularly keen to keep Snape around, he just knew that it would kill Remus if he ever harmed another human being. And even if he somehow managed to stop Remus from killing Snape, Snape would still see what Remus was. Since Snape was all about that purity of blood bullocks, James could only imagine what he thought of werewolves. What would stop him from telling everyone else in the school?

"Nice try, Potter," Snape replied as he started to climb the stairs. "I saw Madam Pomfrey bringing him out here earlier." James sped up, pushing himself to run even faster, but he still couldn't stop Snape from opening the door. James could hear a low growl and he lept up the stairs, practically throwing himself onto Snape. Snape hit the ground hard, his head bouncing off the stony floor of the dilapidated house.

Sirius chose a great time to show up, jumping over the two of them and crashing into Remus as Padfoot. James watched from the doorway as Sirius's large canine form slammed into Remus, completely distracting him as he lead him to another room. He heard snarling and things crashing to the floor as they fought. Then suddenly there was a loud thump and a high keening. The big black dog came running at James, who ducked out of the way and slammed the door as soon as Sirius was clear. A few seconds later, they could hear a large crash as the werewolf slammed into the door, making it rattle on its hinges. Sirius turned back into himself and said, "I told you I'd stop –" He was cut off by James's fist connecting with his jaw. Before he could even get his hands up to defend himself, James pulled his arm back and punched Sirius in the nose. He was about to hit Sirius again when Peter finally reached them and pulled him off Sirius. "What the fuck?" Sirius yelled, wiping blood from the corner of his mouth.

"What the hell is the matter with you?" James yelled, his voice echoing off the walls around them. "Did you even think about what this would do to him?"

"To Snape?" Sirius asked in confusion. "Who bloody cares what –"

"No!" James shouted, interrupting Sirius. "Not to Snape, to Remus! Did you ever stop to think about what this would do to him? How do you think he would feel if he hurt Snape? And what do you think Snape's going to do now that he knows?" Sirius's angry expression fell off his face. The truth was that he hadn't thought about any of that, he had just been focused on serving up a nice plate of karma for the greasy-haired nuisance. James laughed bitterly. "Yeah, I didn't think so." He turned to the unconscious Slytherin, who had blood trickling from his abnormally large nose. James sighed heavily before pulling out his wand and levitating Snape a few feet off the ground. He turned and stormed off, Snape floating a few feet in front of him.

"Where are you going?" Sirius asked, starting to follow James.

James whipped around, the fury plain on his face. "Fuck off, Sirius," he said, his voice flat with anger. Then he seemed to notice Peter for the first time and his voice softened slightly. "Come on, Pete. Help me bring this tosser up to the hospital wing." Peter looked between the two boys in shock. He had never seen James this angry before, never mind at his best friend. In fact, he didn't think he'd ever seen the two of them fighting like this before. "Pete," James said imploringly. Peter looked at Sirius in a mixture of shock and fear one more time before hurrying after James and his strange, floating patient.

Sirius watched them walk down the tunnel, towards Hogwarts. He groaned and punched the wall as soon as they were out of sight. This definitely didn't go as he had planned. He had only meant it as a harmless prank, he hadn't wanted Snape to get hurt or anything. But James was right, he hadn't stopped to think about how difficult it would be to prevent that. He was lucky that James was as quick as he was, or else Snape could have gotten bitten or killed. He had really screwed up this time, all because he let his anger take over, and he didn't know if he would ever be able to fix it. He waited a few minutes before following after Peter and James, walking slowly so he wouldn't catch up with them. By the time he reached the grounds, they were nowhere in sight and he headed towards Gryffindor tower.

He ran into Erica in the corridor that led to the portrait of the Fat Lady. "Hey!" she said brightly before she noticed the bruises forming on his face. She gasped when she saw them and grabbed his arm in concern as she looked up at him. "Merlin, Sirius, what happened to you?"

He hadn't been in the mood to talk to anyone but he found himself answering her all the same. "James."

"What?" Erica asked, her eyes wide in shock. "Why would James do that? Was he confounded?"

"No," Sirius muttered. "He just didn't appreciate the prank I was trying to play on Snape."

Erica raised an eyebrow at him. That seemed completely out of character for James, usually he loved playing pranks on the future Death Eater. It was one of the reasons why he was having so much trouble with Lily. She grabbed his arm and pulled him over to the Fat Lady, who was watching them in interest. "Fighting again, Mr. Black?" she asked curiously.

Erica scowled at her before saying the password and dragging Sirius into the common room. It was almost empty, a handful of seventh years were studying in front of the fire. Erica dragged Sirius over to the other side of the room and pushed him into a chair. "What are you doing?" he asked skeptically. He was surprised that he was letting her do this. The whole walk back, all he wanted to do was climb into his bed and try to think of what he would say to Remus tomorrow. Still, he couldn't deny that he was glad to see Erica. Being around her always made him feel better, no matter the circumstance, but he didn't really feel like overanalyzing that just yet.

"Your nose is broken," she said, standing in front of him. She waved her wand over his nose and muttered, "_Episkey!_"

He could feel the bones in his nose healing. He reached up and rubbed his nose after it was done, muttering, "Thanks."

"So what was this prank?" she asked anxiously, looking almost as if she was scared about what she would hear.

"I ran into Snape and my brother earlier," Sirius explained, frowning as he noticed Erica's face falling. He didn't know why he was telling her this but he wasn't able to stop himself. "He was acting like Regulus was his slave. And then he started making these cryptic comments about how he was going to figure out what Remus was doing out on the grounds when he was supposed to be sick and use it to get us all expelled. But Dumbledore already knows about Remus's… furry little problem so it's not like that would work. And, well, I told him how to get into the tunnel under the Whomping Willow."

"There's a tunnel under the Whomping Willow?" Erica asked in confusion. "Why would you tell him about that?"

Sirius glanced at the girls across the room, making sure they weren't listening. "Because the tunnel connects to the shrieking shack. That's where Remus… you know." Erica's mouth dropped open and Sirius could read the disappointment in her eyes. "I know; it was stupid! I wasn't thinking about how it would affect Remus, which James so kindly pointed out after he punched me. I just… he was with my little brother! He was probably trying to recruit him into Voldemort's services! All I could think about was what you said earlier, what he becomes, and I just wanted to scare him, shut him up for a little while."

Erica sighed. "I never said he was a Death Eater."

"You didn't have to. I could see it all over your face," Sirius said dismissively.

Erica frowned, a little annoyed that Sirius was able to read her so easily. "So what?" she said suddenly, her loud voice drawing the attention of the other Gryffindors in the common room. She lowered it as she continued, "So what if he becomes a Death Eater? Isn't that something we should be trying to prevent? We can still change things, remember?"

Sirius glared at her, not appreciating the way she was throwing his words back in his face. "Why do you care?" he asked, his voice low and harsh. "You aren't interested in changing anything." He knew it was the wrong thing to say as soon as the words left his mouth. Her eyes filled tears as she shook her head. She turned to leave but Sirius grabbed her arm, forcing her to turn back around. "No, don't go. I didn't mean that."

"Yes you did," she said, her voice cracking. "You're Sirius Black. That's what you do, say the most hurtful thing you can think of simply because you can."

She tried to leave again but he held onto her arm, holding her in place. "I'm sorry," he said sincerely. "I really am. It's just that, sometimes, it's so hard –"

"Being nice to me, I know," she said, cutting him off. "Whatever the hell that means."

Sirius sighed. He couldn't really explain why he lashed out at her sometimes, he just couldn't take it whenever he thought she was angry with him. Besides, it wasn't fair that she was throwing his words back in his face when she obviously had no interest in actually trying to change things. She was staring at him, her eyes wide and full of tears, and suddenly all he wanted to do was make her feel better. "I'm sorry," he whispered again, letting go of her arm to touch her face.

Erica's heart was beating so fast and so loud that she was certain that Sirius could hear it. Hell, those seventh years across the room probably heard it as well. She could tell that his apology was genuine, but that wasn't what was making her lungs malfunction. Sirius's hand was on her face, his thumb slowly caressing her cheek as he leaned forward. His beautiful stormy grey eyes moved down to her lips and she was certain that he was going to kiss her. Her heart only seemed to beat faster at that thought. She knew she shouldn't want to kiss him, especially after he had deliberately hurt her simply because she didn't approve of his prank, but she couldn't stop wondering if his lips were as soft as they looked.

His face was merely inches from hers when the portrait hole opened again. "Mister Black!" Professor McGonnagall yelled, her voice high and shrill. Sirius jumped back from Erica, as if he was only just now realizing what he was doing, and turned to face his professor. He could tell that she was angry, her mouth a thin straight line as she glared at him. "Professor Dumbledore wants to see you right this instant."

Sirius took a deep breath before nodding. "See you later, maybe," he muttered.

Erica watched him go, trying to catch her breath as she silently cursed McGonagall.

* * *

**A/N:** So sorry that it's taken me this long to update. Summer is always a really busy time for me but I'm going to post the next chapter up today as well to try and make up for that :) I'd like to say that I will be posting more regularly but I can't really promise anything. Now that summer's over, I've got work, grad school, and a social life to try and maintain. Sorry I am such crap at updating :( But please review and let me know what you think! And thank you to everyone that has reviewed, favorited or put this story on alert in the past few months!


	22. Chapter 22

**Chapter 22**

Erica spent the rest of the night tossing and turning, unable to sleep. She couldn't stop thinking about Sirius and the stupid prank he tried to pull. She felt like it was her fault. After all, if she hadn't spilled the beans about Snape's future, Sirius might have been able to restrain himself. Instead, he thought that Snape was trying to recruit his little brother for the Dark Lord. Still, she couldn't stop herself from being disappointed that Sirius had allowed Snape to pull him down to this level. Of course Snape was going to try to bait him, but Sirius didn't have to give in to him so easily. And she felt bad for Snape. He was a nosey, obnoxious jerk but he didn't deserve to be punished for something he might do in the future. Also, she was worried about what the consequences would be for him and the rest of the marauders. Remus was totally innocent, but he had the most to lose now that Snape knew his secret. Snape was the one that had revealed his secret in her second year after all, and she just hoped that he would be able to hold it in until then. She didn't think many parents would take the fact that there was a werewolf in school with their children well. James had been trying to stop the prank, and she wasn't sure what Peter's role in this had been but she was pretty sure they would be safe. Sirius, on the other hand… no one would be able to fault Dumblefore for expelling him after this. And she didn't want Sirius to go. It was strange, after all of the bullshit that he had put her through, but she felt closer to him than anyone else in 1976. There was a selfish part of her that wanted him to stay around, too. He was the only person that knew her secret and she didn't want to lose that now she had finally told someone.

She couldn't stop thinking about what had happened right before McGonnagall came in, either. She was pretty sure Sirius was about to kiss her. Not that she had much experience in that department, the only boy she had ever kissed was Davey O'Connel when she was twelve, but what else could explain the way he had been acting? He'd been staring at her lips and moving in so close that she was able to make out flecks of blue in his grey eyes. Even thinking about it made her pulse speed up, which was fairly embarrassing. It wasn't fair that he had this effect on her, especially when she really didn't want to date him. He was the best-looking boy she had ever met but she didn't want to date anyone in the 1970s. She planned on leaving as soon as the time turners were ready so what would be the point? It would only create unnecessary heartbreak. Still, there was something about Sirius Black, and it wasn't just the fact that he looked the way he did. He was… intriguing, to say the least. He seemed to have two different sides to him, the life of the party and the weird, sullen boy that preferred to stay in the shadows. He drew her in in a way that no other boy ever had and she couldn't stop thinking about him, no matter how hard she tried.

She only got about an hour of sleep that night. Every time she fell asleep, which didn't happen that often, she would jolt awake after only a few minutes, her nightmares full of a Hogwarts without the marauders around. She decided to finally get up when she noticed the darkness outside lightening to a light gray. She couldn't take anxiously laying around anymore, this was something that she could actually do something about. She got ready quickly before going down to Dumbledore's office. She had been there so frequently in the past few weeks that she knew the password, whispering it as soon as she reached the gargoyle that stood sentry outside his door.

Luckily, Dumbledore was awake. She could hear him talking to the portraits that covered the walls of his office but they all feigned sleep as soon as she knocked on the open door.

"Miss Costello," Dumbledore smiled, gesturing for her to take the seat across from him. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

She sat down across from him, nervously twisting her hands in her lap. "It's my fault," she said. "What happened last night with Sirius and Snape."

Dumbledore raised an eyebrow at her. "You were involved as well?" he asked, looking more than a little disappointed.

Erica could feel her cheeks coloring in embarrassment. "Kind of," she answered. "I told Sirius some things about Snape. From the future. I know I shouldn't have but, well, I did. And they're not really good things, either. It must have set him off and I'm really sorry, sir, but I don't think you should expel him for it –"

"Erica," Dumbledore said gently, his blue eyes twinkling in amusement. "I have not expelled Mister Black."

"You haven't?" Erica asked, a little surprised. She hadn't realized Dumbledore would be so lenient, although she wasn't going to complain about it.

"No," Dumbledore answered. "Although I won't share the details of his punishment, I can assure you that Sirius is still a student at Hogwarts." Erica sighed in relief. "Now, what is this about sharing details about the future with him?"

Erica could tell that her face was red by then. "I didn't mean to," she said. "He kind of figured out most of it by himself."

Dumbledore sighed. "I know that it must be a relief, having someone that knows where you're actually from, but you can not tell him what happens in the future if you want to go back there."

"I know, I shouldn't have told him but…" Erica frowned and trailed off, looking down at her feet. She didn't want to see the disappointment on Dumbledore's face. At the same time, she couldn't stop feeling disappointed with herself. She couldn't stop thinking about the argument she'd had with Sirius the night before, or the sleepless hours she'd spent afterwards. She had realized last night that she didn't want to lose the friends she'd made in the 1970s. She felt so much closer to them than the few friends she'd had in her own time. She couldn't let their tragic story play out. And her family… well, they were in a mess in her own time. Maybe, if she tried her best to shield them, she could stop anything from happening to them. Her head started to hurt whenever she tried to work out the particulars of time travel, but maybe she could change the past and save her mothers life. Even if Erica could never see her, at least she would still be alive and her family would stay whole.

"Actually," Erica said suddenly, looking up at Dumbledore. "I should have. I should be doing something to change things. Those things that I told Sirius about Snape… I mean, maybe if someone actually tried to intervene then they won't happen. I can't just do nothing anymore, I can't just sit by while others die."

The headmaster watched her, his blue eyes a mixture of confusion and apprehension. "Are you sure that this is something you want to do, Miss Costello? Remember, if you try to change things, you might never be able to go back."

"Yes, I'm sure," Erica said, realizing just how true those words were as she spoke them. "Look, it's obvious that those time turners aren't going to be ready for at least another year, possibly even longer. It's time that I gave up on them. Maybe…" she trailed off, biting her lip as she remembered what Sirius had said to her down by the lake. "Maybe I got a hold of that broken time turner for a reason. Maybe I was sent back here to make things right."

Dumbledore didn't look entirely convinced. "I know you think that using your knowledge of the future will make things better, and that may be true, but there is also the possibility that things could get worse."

Erica shook her head. "I don't see how saving people can make things worse." She took a deep breath before saying, "The Brocklehursts are going to be attacked soon, possibly within the week, I'm not sure. I can't remember the exact date they were murdered."

"Brocklehurst?" Dumbledore said, his eyes wide in surprise. "Cyrus Brocklehurst?"

Erica nodded. He was the current head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement and his family was going to be attacked in their home soon. It was another shock to the wizarding world, forcing them to take Voldemort more seriously. "He's going to kill them all. Even their five-year-old son. You have to stop him," Erica said imploringly. Dumbledore was speechless, which Erica was certain had to be a first. She got up then, not really interested in hearing about the risks that came with changing the past. She was certain that she would end up changing her mind if she gave herself more time and she didn't want that to happen. "Thank you, Professor," she said before turning and leaving quickly.

* * *

Sirius didn't get much sleep that night either. Dumbledore had tore him a new one the night before, banning him from all future Hogsmeade visits and giving him Saturday detentions until he left Hogwarts. In fact, the only good thing that had come out of the meeting in the headmaster's office was the fact that Severus Snape was forbidden from telling anyone Moony's secret. Sirius was extremely glad for that. He hadn't really been thinking about what would happen after Snape got the pants scared off of him, but he wouldn't put it past the greasy-haired Slytherin to tell the whole school about Remus's furry little problem and it would be all Sirius's fault. James had been too furious to even look at him after they left Dumbledore's office. Peter had seemed confused but followed James's example, ignoring him for the rest of the night. Sirius had left the dormitory at the first sign of sunrise, hurrying to the hospital wing. He wanted to be the one to tell Remus about what happened last night.

Remus was still sleeping when he got there so Sirius sat in the chair next to his bed, trying to figure out what the hell he was going to say to his friend. He had really screwed up this time and he wasn't sure how Remus was going to react, although Sirius wouldn't blame Remus if he never spoke to him again. Now that he had finally stopped to think about, he couldn't believe that he had been so stupid. He hadn't stopped to think about how this prank would affect his best friend, he had only been so focused on hurting Snape, and now Remus had barely escaped hurting someone.

"Sirius," Remus said, breaking the black-haired boy out of his thoughts. He was looking warily at his best friend while he wiped the sleep from his eyes, obviously able to see the anxiety all over Sirius's face. "What's wrong?"

Sirius took a deep breath, still unsure of what he was going to say. "I did something really stupid last night, Moony," he said, his voice low and apologetic. "And I am so, so sorry."

Remus had never seen Sirius like this before and it was starting to scare him. "What did you do?"

Sirius took a deep breath before saying, "I ran into Snape and my brother last night." He lost his nerve after that, suddenly nervous. Remus wasn't really the type to flip out and scream when he got angry, like James; instead, his anger was always quiet and full of disappointment. For some reason, Sirius found that to be so much worse.

"And?" Remus asked impatiently. He knew it couldn't be good if it involved Regulus Black. Remus knew that Sirius's relationship with his brother still bothered him quite a bit, and he could only imagine what he'd decided to do out of anger.

Sirius stared at his hands as he answered. "Well, first Snape displayed how he bosses Regulus around, and then once Regulus left, he started making some cryptic comments about seeing you out on the grounds with Madam Pomfrey when you're supposed to be sick." Remus froze, not really sure that he wanted to hear what happened next. If Severus Snape knew his secret, it would only be a matter of time until the rest of the school knew. Sirius looked up at Remus's tense silence and continued, "I told him how to get by the Whomping Willow."

Remus's eyes widened. "Did I hurt him?" he asked in horror.

"No," Sirius said quickly, trying to reassure his friend. "I stopped you while James grabbed Snape."

Remus's jaw was clenched. "Did he see me?"

Sirius nodded and the color drained from his friend's face. "No, it's okay though," Sirius said, trying to reassure him. "Dumbledore said that he would expel him if he told anyone."

Remus sighed. "And what's going to stop him from telling everyone once we finish school?" Sirius didn't have an answer for that, suddenly thinking back to when Erica told him that Remus's werewolf status was common knowledge in the future. For all he knew, that could be his fault for playing this prank on Snape. Remus shook his head at his friend's silence, his face a mixture of anger and pain.

"I'm so sorry, Moony," Sirius said, his voice cracking halfway through his apology. He couldn't take Remus's quiet disappointment, he would much rather the sandy-haired boy shouted and hit him, like James had. "I wasn't thinking –"

"That much is obvious," Remus interrupted, his voice flat and angry. He couldn't believe that his friend had been so stupid. He always knew that Sirius's temper would end up hurting someone, Remus just hadn't expected that he would play such a pivotal role. And he couldn't help being hurt by what he'd done as well. He'd known he was a monster the moment Greyback bit him as a child but his friends had never treated him like one, even after they'd learned his secret. He had foolishly hoped that meant they didn't see him like that but obviously he had been mistaken. Sirius clearly saw him as the dangerous half-breed that he was or he wouldn't have tried to use him as a way to get back at Snape.

"Moony –" Sirius started to say but Remus cut him off.

"Just go, Sirius," he said, sounding very tired. "I just want to be alone, okay?"

Sirius nodded somberly. He couldn't blame Remus for his reaction, even though it only made him feel worse. He had somehow managed to enrage all three of his closest friends in one night with one stupid act and he wouldn't blame them if they never spoke to him again. And he had no idea how he could fix this, if it was possible to fix at all.

He was feeling more than a little dejected when he walked into the Great Hall. Since it was so early, there weren't that many people sitting at their house tables. He ate quickly, practically shoveling the food into his mouth because he was hoping to get out of there long before James woke up. He didn't want to feel his friend's glare burning a hole into the side of his head again, he'd had enough of that the night before.

He ran into Erica in the Entrance Hall, on his way out onto the grounds so he could continue to avoid his friends. "Sirius!" she smiled before throwing her arms around him. Sirius patted her back awkwardly. He wasn't quite sure why she was hugging him, although he didn't mind that much. She seemed to realize what she was doing, though, because her body turned rigid and her face was pink when she pulled away. He raised an eyebrow at her and her face darkened to red. "I'm glad you weren't expelled," she explained, her voice soft.

He smiled, although it was a little bitter. "Yeah, me too."

"So what happened?" she asked curiously.

Sirius glanced around the hall, which was starting to fill up with students. "Let's take a walk," he said, nodding toward the large front door. She nodded, biting her lip as she followed him onto the lawn. They walked the grounds in silence, until they reached the covered bridge. Sirius stopped and leaned out one of the open windows before saying, "I'm lucky Snape only got a bump on the head or I probably would have been expelled. Instead, I'm banned from Hogsmeade indefinitely and I have detention every Saturday until I finish N.E.W.T.s."

Erica frowned. Sirius should have been punished for what he did but that seemed a little harsh. "What happened with Snape? Did he figure out that Remus is a…" she trailed off, not wanting to say the word out loud where she could possibly be overheard.

Sirius nodded glumly. "Dumbledore threatened to expel him if he says anything, though."

"That's good," Erica said.

"I guess," Sirius frowned, remembering what Reus had said to him earlier. "I'm sure he'll tell everyone as soon as school's over, though."

"At least you've got a year until that happens," Erica pointed out, although she knew that Sirius was probably right. After all, Professor Snape had been the leak in her second year. She had always figured he did it because he wanted Remus's job and she couldn't help noticing how strange that was either, the fact that Snape had wanted the Defense Against The Dark Arts job so badly considering the path he was on. She wondered how he managed to convince Dumbledore that he was against Voldemort; his future allegiance to the Dark Lord was obvious.

"What is it?" Sirius asked, watching her curiously.

Erica shook herself out of her thoughts. "What?" she asked, her cheeks warming when she noticed how intense his gaze was.

"You were thinking about the future, weren't you?" he replied.

"How do you do that?" Erica said, looking at him in confusion. "It's like you can read my mind."

"Just your face," Sirius answered. Erica wasn't sure if that was better. She couldn't understand how he seemed to understand her better than anyone else she'd ever met. "So what happened in the future?" he asked, looking suddenly anxious. "Did I really screw things up for Remus?"

Erica was surprised by how upset Sirius appeared. He had always given off this air of not giving a crap about anything but it was clear how much his friendship to Remus meant to him. She shrugged and he scowled at her. "I really don't know," she tried to explain. "I never knew about this so it's not like I can pinpoint something in the future and say that it happened because of this event."

Sirius sighed, clearly not satisfied with her answer. "But people know about his… problem in the future?" he whispered. Erica nodded and he groaned, putting his head in his hands.

He looked so miserable that Erica couldn't help wanting to make him feel better. "To be fair, Snape didn't actually say anything until 1994. And Remus seemed to be doing pretty well," she said. "I mean, there were some prejudiced jerks but that hadn't seemed to stop him."

He shook his head and let out a strangled laugh. "1994," he said, looking as if he thought the whole thing to be completely insane. "I'm still not convinced that you're not completely nutty, you know."

She laughed. "Neither am I, to be completely honest." Which was the truth; there were many times when she was convinced that she had somehow hit her head and this was only a strange dream brought on by a medically induced coma.

He couldn't help thinking about how insane all of this was. Being a wizard, he had always accepted some really crazy things as completely normal but the flippant way she was about the future unnerved Sirius a little. He would be thirty-six in 1994. He wondered what his life was like then; if he was still close with the rest of the Marauders. He couldn't help wondering if James had ever given up on Lily Evans or if any of them had managed to get married and have any kids. And how the hell did she know Remus in the future, as a child? "Why are you telling me this, anyways?" he asked. "I thought you couldn't say anything about the future."

Erica shrugged. "I felt bad for you." She didn't want to tell Sirius about what she had told Dumbledore about the Brocklehusts yet. It would feel more finite that way, and she didn't want to think about the repercussions for her actions just yet.

He chuckled. "Well, thanks for the pity, I guess." She smiled at him before turning to look out at the Hogwarts grounds as students started streaming outside. It was finally starting to feel like springtime, the skies were mostly clear and then sun was shining as it warmed up. She could feel Sirius next to her, her body was always so hyper aware of him, watching out the window as well. It felt strange to her, how close they were without it feeling awkward, considering what had almost happened last night. She didn't have that much experience with boys, or any experience really, but she was pretty certain that he had been about to kiss her, although she couldn't figure out why. He had spent so much time hating her that she couldn't imagine that he would ever fancy her. Plus, well, he was Sirius Black, the best looking bloke in school, and he could be with pretty much girl that he wanted – in fact, had been with most of them, judging from the stories she'd heard – so there was no possible way he would ever think of her like that. Erica shook her head, not really wanting to think about it. She assumed that he had moved past that temporary moment of insanity, and that was why he wasn't bringing it up, so she decided not to say anything either. After all, it felt like they had finally moved past everything and become actual friends. She didn't want to do anything that would jeopardize that, especially so soon after it happened.


End file.
